The Test
by verticallimit379
Summary: When someone close to Beckett is kidnapped, how far will she go to get that person back?  Sequel to Captain
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle the show or any of the characters.**

**ALSO this story is a sequel to my story Captain, so if you have not read that I would suggest doing so before reading this one :P Thanks**

Kate slammed her mug down on the table in frustration. "Damnit Castle! Why can't you just let me do this my way?"

A few weeks after Kate had put her very first stalker behind bars Beckett and Castle had decided to make her move into his loft more permanent. They were still in the process of moving everything. Rick wasn't rushing her, he just wanted to get it done, but she wanted, needed, to take her time with it. She needed to do it at her pace, not his. This was their second argument on the topic.

"Your way is taking a long time. Kate I just want this to be your home."

She got up and brought her plate to the dishwasher. They had been eating breakfast when he had brought up the move again. She was silent for a minute, trying to figure out what to say and how to say it without letting things get out of hand. She turned to face him and leaned up against the counter. "Rick, I do consider this my home, I really do. I just..." she took a deep breath. "I have had more than a few boyfriends before; a couple of them were pretty serious. But I never moved in with any of them, I always had my own place. My own house I could go to when I got caught up in a case and I knew they didn't want to deal with me, someplace I could go when I needed to be alone. Moving in with you…it's what I want to do, this is where I want to be, but I need to do this at my own pace." She stood there with her arms crossed across her chest, waiting for him to say something.

He got up and walked to where she was standing. He stood in front of her for a second then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. "I'm sorry Kate, I don't mean to rush you or anything like that. I won't bring it up again ok? Take your time."

"Thanks."

They stood like that for a minute, letting the tension in the room thin out. Kate sighed and Rick took a step back. "Time to go?" he asked.

"Yeah, Lanie is meeting me at my place in half an hour." The ME was spending the afternoon helping her pack the rest of her stuff up. It was something she needed company for. Since the team was in between cases they had both taken the day off. Kate went upstairs and threw on a pair of worn out jeans and a comfy t-shirt. She grabbed her purse and was out the door after giving Castle a quick kiss.

She got to her house and set her purse down by the door. She went back to her car and grabbed the empty boxes she had picked up. Once back in her apartment she stood in the doorway looking around at what still had to be done. Most of the furniture was being sold except for a couple of small pieces that had survived the explosion of her previous apartment and had belonged to her parents. She was almost glad that she hadn't had much time to accumulate a lot of knick-knacks after finding a new place.

She decided to start without Lanie. She would be there any minute anyways. She brought a box to the kitchen and started packing up most of her kitchen stuff. She set a couple of pieces aside, a few of her favorite mugs, and some plates she didn't want to get rid of even though she knew Castle had more than enough. The rest of it she was going to donate.

When the box was full she checked her phone. Lanie was supposed to be here half an hour ago and there were no messages from her. She dialed her friends' number and after a few rings it went to voice mail. She left a message asking Lanie where she was and if she was still coming then hung up. It wasn't like Lanie to be late but she figured maybe she stopped somewhere.

After another fifteen minutes without hearing back she tried calling again. When there was still no answer she decided to call Esposito and see if Lanie was with him.

"Hey Beckett, we got a case?" he said in greeting.

"No, actually I was wondering if Lanie was with you, she was supposed to meet me almost 45 minutes ago and she isn't here."

Esposito paused. "I was with her this morning, but she left to go meet you almost an hour ago…she didn't get there?"

Kate sat down as all the possibilities started running through her head. "No she…she never got here, I've already tried calling her twice and left one message will you try too?"

"Of Course, I'll call you back in 5 minutes."

They hung up and she could tell Esposito was starting to worry as well. Lanie was never late, and she very rarely turned her phone off.

She sat on the chair that was still in her living room and waiting for Esposito's' call. When her phone rang she picked it up without looking at the caller ID. "Did you get a hold of her?"

It wasn't her partners' voice that answered her, but another male voice that sounded vaguely European. It was cool and even. "Missing something detective?"

**Ok I know this one was super short but the next one will be longer I promise.**

**What did you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kate's eyes widened and the detective in her began to come to life immediately. "Who is this? What have you done with Lanie?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, don't get so worked up, your questions will be answered in time. Your medical examiner is just fine, I haven't hurt her."

"Where is she?" By this time Kate was in full cop mode and was cataloguing every detail about the callers' voice that she could.

"They say the team you have there is the best detective Beckett. And I don't like hearing that, because where I'm from? I'm the best."

"I want to know what you've done with her."

"Like I said detective, all in good time. If I just gave you the answers this wouldn't be very much of a challenge now would it? See here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you a little test. Here's the deal, you have 48 hours to come and find your precious Dr. Parish, or I start to hurt her."

"I don't know who you are but you're not going to get away with this you-"

"Now now, what did I tell you about getting worked up? This isn't the way to handle things. This is a challenge, a test if you will. Only one of us can be the best, and this is going to help us decide who it is. Remember detective Beckett, you have 48 hours to save your friend. Don't be late."

The line disconnected before she could say anything in response. She didn't wait for Esposito to call back but grabbed her purse and dashed out the door as she was dialing his number.

He picked up and she could hear the worry in his voice. "I couldn't get a hold of her. Did you have any luck?"

"Not good luck. But I have information. I need you to meet me at the precinct as soon as you can get there."

"What happened to her is she-"

"Esposito, I will explain everything when we get there but right now I need you to call Ryan and tell him to meet us there as well and not ask questions. I will be there in 10 minutes."

She hung up without waiting for a reply. She was already in the car and pulling out onto the street as she dialed another number.

"Hey Beckett, miss me or something?" came Castle's voice form the other end.

"Castle I need you to not ask questions and meet me at the precinct ASAP. I'll explain when everyone is there. I'm 10 minutes away."

He could hear urgency and a hint of fear in her voice and knew better than to argue. "I'm on my way," was all he said before she hung up on him as well.

This couldn't be happening. Not to Lanie. Not to the girl that had enough attitude for the entire city and had been there for Kate since she became a cop. She felt tears stinging her eyes as she drove, tempted to turn her siren on, and wiped them away. Whoever did this was going to pay for it.

She was first to the precinct and was telling the captain she needed to talk to him when Ryan and Esposito ran into the room. Castle was only a minute behind them and they all gathered by Becketts' desk.

"What is this about detective?" Montgomery asked.

Kate took a deep breath and spoke. "Lanie has been kidnapped."

"What do you mean kidnapped?" the captain asked.

Esposito turned around and laced his fingers behind his head, taking a couple of steps and turning in a circle.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked.

Castle didn't say anything but watched the reactions of everyone. He finally turned his attention to Kate. "Are you ok? She didn't get taken while she was with you did she?"

"No, she was supposed to be me at 11 at my place to help me pack stuff up, when she hadn't shown my 11:30 I called her and left a message. She didn't call back so 15 minutes later I tried her again, then called Esposito. When I got off the phone with him someone called back and I thought it was him but…it wasn't. it was whoever took her."

"What did they say?" Esposito said getting close to Beckett and raising his voice.

She could tell he was starting to get worked up. She glanced over at Montgomery and he nodded, allowing her to take the lead. She turned back to her partner "Esposito you need to calm down. We need to treat this like any other case and follow the steps we usually take."

He raised his voice even further. "This is my girlfriend, your best friend, and our best medical examiner, and you want me to treat this like a normal case? How can you-"

She cut him off. "Detective Esposito if you can't handle this case I will ask you to step down. I don't want to have to do that so you need to calm down."

"Calm down? This is Lanie we're talking about! What do you expect me to do?"

She rose her voice to meet his and took a step into his personal space like he had done to her a second ago. "I expect you to do your job detective, and help me solve this case. Is that clear?"

He seethed silently for a minute before taking a step backwards and nodding.

She nodded in return "Good. He told me that we have 48 hours to find her or he's going to start hurting her. We can do this we just need to put our heads together and work fast. Now I want the best CSU we've got at her house looking for any sign of break in, or her being taken from there. Esposito can you handle going with them?"

He nodded and headed off to meet the team.

Beckett turned to Ryan and handed him her cell phone. "The last received call will be the one from the guy that took her. I want to know everything you can find out about it."

"Got it." He said taking the phone and heading to the lab.

"What can I do?" Castle asked.

She turned to face him and pointed at his chair next to her desk. "Sit and stay quiet. I need to think." He nodded and sat down. Finally she looked at the captain. "Is there any way we can keep this away from the public until we find her?"

"I'll do what I can, but one of our own is missing, I'm going to have to tell someone sooner or later."

She made a face but nodded, turned and went over to the murder board and started putting up a timeline. Esposito had been the last person to see her a little before 11. She added the first call she had made, along with the second call to Lanie and the call to Esposito. After that she added the call from the kidnapper. Above the timeline she wrote down everything she could remember about the conversation.

Castle read the notes silently. Male, faint European accent, 48 hours, test. He had no idea what the last word meant, but he waited to see if she would explain anything before he asked. After half an hour of watching her stare at the board silently he finally spoke up. "What does 'test' mean?"

She turned around to glare at him but her gaze softened as she saw the worry in his eyes. She forgot that he had gotten close to Lanie as well over the two years he had been working with them. She took a deep breath and turned back to the board without answering him. He stood up and went to stand beside her. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and decided that he wasn't going to go away until she gave him an answer. "He told me that this was a challenge. That our team is the best from around here and he is the best where he's from but that only one of us could be the best. He said this test would tell us which one of us that was."

"Kate, we are the best." He said with his typical quirky smile. "We can figure this out. Lanie will be fine."

She opened her mouth to reply but heard a beeping noise come from her computer. The two of them raced over to her desk to see what it was. A message had popped up saying she had one new e-mail. Her eyes met Ricks and she pressed open. A video popped up and Lanie appeared on the screen. The voice from the phone started talking. "Well Dr. Parish, do you have anything to say to your friends?"

Lanie hesitated for a second then began speaking. "Kate, Javi, Ryan, and Castle I know you're probably there too. You guys can do this, I know you can. He hasn't hurt me or anything, but you guys had better get me the hell outta here."

The video stayed on Lanie but the male voice took over. "The countdown has started detective, 47 hours left. Don't let your friend down."

The video went blank and Kate cursed. "Damnit there was nothing in that video that can help us at all. she was up against a plain wall, no reflections or anything. We'll have to see if we can get a trace on the IP address." She was about to ask Castle to borrow his phone and call Ryan when the detective in question came jogging up to them. "Please tell me you got something off the phone?"

He handed it back to her and shook his head. "Call came from a one use, disposable phone. Could have come from anywhere. What's that?"

"He sent us a video, I assume to prove to use that he hasn't hurt her yet." She hit play and sat back as Ryan watched. When it was over she asked "can you trace the IP address?"

Her partner motioned for her to move over and he bent over the computer and started typing. A minute later he stood up straight. "He was using a wireless connection at a coffee shop on west 71st in between Broadway and Columbus Ave."

Beckett looked at Castle and Ryan in turn then stood up and headed for the elevator. "Ryan, call Esposito and have him meet us there, Let's go get this bastard."

**Can I just say wow? I got such a great response to chapter 1 that I'm posting chapter 2 a bit early **** Thank you everyone who read, reviewed and added this to your alerts :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**First of all I would like to thank stevieLUVSAlex for your highly amusing reviews :p**

**Also I used some stastics in this chapter. Since I could not find statistics about adults being kidnapped, I used the ones I found on children being kidnapped. I found them here (.) in case you want to see for yourself. Pretty shocking stuff actually. Ok, now I'll stop rambling and let you get to the chapter :p**

Lanie followed her kidnappers' movements with her eyes as he paced back and forth in the small room. She wasn't a detective but she could tell he was trying to figure out what to do with her. Occasionally he would leave for a few minutes and then come back, but he always locked the door behind him. Every time he opened the door she caught a glimpse of what appeared to be an everyday living room, but it didn't give her any clue as to where she was.

The room she was in had no windows and just the one door. The walls were plain white with no decorations except a fan on the ceiling. It was sparsely furnished with a single bed, a dresser, a table and a chair, to which she was handcuffed by one arm. She had barely heard him talk except when he had been on the phone.

The medical examiner thought back to when she had been taken. She had been blindfolded and when the cloth was taken off her eyes she found herself in this room. Lanie had tried fighting back, she had tried the silent treatment and she had tried threatening her kidnapper. She had started off angry at the man standing in front of her. "My girl is gonna catch your ass and throw it in jail so you had better watch out."

Even then her anger had barely rattled him. "I think you underestimate me Dr. Parish. Your detective might be good but she has a time limit. 74 percent of people who are kidnapped are dead within three hours doctor. I'm giving you 48. And those people that survive the three hours? 40 percent of them are found dead and 4 percent are never found at all."

She stared right into his eyes. "Beckett is the best detective there is, bar none. She is going to find you, within your timeline, and you're going to wish you had never messed with her. Do you know where the last person that tried to take someone she cared about is?"

"Do tell."

"6 feet under."

After that he had clamped his mouth shut and left the room, coming back with a small video recorder and taking the video of her. When he was finished with his short film he left the room again, this time not returning for almost an hour.

They pulled up to the small café without their sirens on. Chances were that the man had left already, but Beckett didn't want to take any chances of spooking him if he was still in there. They got out of the car and Beckett walked over to Esposito. "Did they find anything at the apartment?"

He shook his head with an exasperated look on his face. "Nothing. No sign of break in or forced entry. They dusted all the door handles and only found prints from me and Lanie."

"Any sign of a struggle?"

"Nope. Everything was the way it had been when I left that morning."

Beckett nodded and Ryan and Esposito went around to the side door while her and Castle went in the front door and walked up to the counter.

Kate pulled out a phone and pulled up a picture of Lanie. She flashed her badge at the slightly acne-ridden teenager behind the counter. "I'm detective Kate Beckett NYPD. Did you see a man come in with this woman at all within the last half hour?" she knew it was a long shot but had to try everything she could.

The kid stared at the picture for a second, then shook his head. "Did you say your name was Beckett?" Kate nodded and the kid pulled a folded envelope from his pocket. "He didn't come in with anyone but a guy came in, used the internet at a table in the corner for like five minutes and then gave me a huge tip to give this to you. He said you would be coming in."

Kate grabbed the envelope and turned to her partners. "Ryan get a sketch artist with this kid, I want a picture of this guy. Esposito start talking to everyone in here and see if they noticed anything. Don't let anybody leave until you're done. I'll radio in a few other officers to canvas the place and get security footage. After that's done ill meet you guys at the precinct. I want to see if we can lift any fingerprints off this letter. After I read it of course."

The two other detectives nodded and headed off to get their job done. Kate was glad that Esposito didn't seem to be having any more problems. She took a deep breath and looked around. He had been in here. If only she had been faster, maybe she could have-

She was cut off from her thoughts by Rick gently laying a hand on her shoulder. "There was nothing you could have done to meet him here. He knew we were coming and was probably gone by the time we were opening the video."

She looked at him for a second the nodded. "Let's get back to the precinct. I want to know what's in this letter."

Kate was silent the entire way back to the precinct and Rick knew better than so interrupt her thought process. He knew she was trying out figure out what could be in the letter and what had happened to her friend. He sat and stared out the window, trying to think of something he could do to help.

They got to the building and Kate sat at her desk staring at the letter without opening it. Rick looked around and when he saw that nobody was there he rested a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him with gratitude in her eyes and picked up the envelope. It was unmarked and she was careful to touch as little of it as possible, in case the kidnapper had left prints behind. She doubted he would though. She unfolded the letter and tilted it so Castle could read it with her.

_Detective Beckett,_

_You're slacking detective. Tracing an untraceable phone and following an IP address to an internet café? You will have to do better than that if you don't want your friend to get hurt. This is a test detective, you're supposed to use everything you know to get a good score. And if you fail this test? Well you already know what will happen._

_And don't bother testing this little note, I didn't leave any fingerprints._

She crumpled the letter in a fit of frustration before remembering that it was still technically evidence and had to unwrinkle it. Castle stayed silent until she turned to him. She was surprised at how well behaved he was being on this case. "We aren't getting anywhere with this. We have to be missing something."

He looked at her sincerely. "You will find it, you always do."

She sighed and went over to the murder board. She added the times of receiving the video, getting to the café and getting the letter. They were still no closer to finding anything out. She dialed Esposito. "Hey, find anything at the café?"

"Nobody could tell us anything specific about him and nobody noticed exactly what time he came in or what car he was driving. They just knew he left about ten minutes before we got there."

"Alright thanks. See you in a bit." She added the time he left the café to the timeline and called her other partner. "Ryan, did the id give you guys a good sketch?"

"Yup, on my way back with it now."

There was nothing else for her to do but wait. She went to the break room and made coffee for her and Castle. She had a feeling that as long as she was still here he would be too. She handed him a mug and they stood there in silence for a few minutes until Ryan came in with a manila envelope. He handed it to Kate and she opened it to see a sketch of the man the kid had seen. She tacked it to the white board and the three of them stood there staring at it.

Esposito came up next to Ryan. "That who we're looking for?"

Ryan nodded. "He looks so…average."

Kate set her mug down. "They usually do. And most killers or kidnappers are average. Average people with an average life. Just makes them harder to find sometimes. They blend in so well with everyone else." She thought for a second before continuing. "Ok, I want this picture run through every database we've got. But don't put it on TV, I don't want this story made public yet."

Ryan took the picture down again and went to go scan it into the computer. Kate strode over to her desk and grabbed her keys.

"Where are you going?" Esposito asked.

"I want to go see her apartment for myself. Maybe…I can find something else. Stay with Ryan and help him run through all the databases." She looked at Castle and motioned for him to come with her.

Esposito nodded. He didn't bother telling her that the chances of her finding something CSU missed were slim to none. He knew this was something she had to do to come to grips with what was going on. He had done the same thing when he got there before the CSU team. Just sat in his car and stared at the house thinking. He knew it was pointless to ponder over _what if I had stayed longer?_ Or _what if I had gone with her to help Beckett move? _ But he hadn't been able to help himself. Then the team had shown up and he put all the questions away to deal with later. He watched Castle and Beckett walk away as he thought all of this, hoping that despite the odds she would be able to find something. If anyone knew the medical examiner it was Beckett.

Castle and Beckett arrived at the small house and parked out on the street. The forensics team had left but there was crime scene tape on the doors still. Kate knew where Lanie kept the spare key and let the two of them in. She reminded Castle not to touch anything before heading off to look at Lanie's bedroom. Out of respect for his partner and their missing friend he stayed in the living rom. He walked around and looked carefully at all of the doors and windows. Nothing seemed out of place, just as Esposito had said.

Beckett headed for her friends bedroom and was glad when Castle didn't follow her. She needed the time to gather her thoughts. While she was in there she looked for any sign that Lanie had seen this coming. A note, anything. She also checked the windows for any sign of forced entry, all without success. She looked around at the room that she knew so well from weekends spent here and girls' nights. She sat down on the bed and put her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. She had dealt with hard cases before. Her mothers' murder, the Coonan case, and recently having her very own stalker. But this was different, it was new. She needed time to take it all in, but she knew she wasn't going to have that time. A few minutes later she heard Castle calling her name from the next room. She took a second to gather herself then got up and went to see what he wanted.

She saw him standing by one of the windows looking out. "What's up? You didn't find something did you?" she said, almost letting herself get her hopes up.

"That's a garage out there."

"Good job Castle, next week I'll teach you the alphabet." She raised an eyebrow and smirked at him.

"Does Lanie have a car? Because it doesn't look like there is one in this garage."

"Yeah she's too impatient to wait for a taxi all the time." The wheels started spinning in her head as she realized what Castle was getting at.

"So if she has a car," Castle started

"And it's not at my house," Beckett cut in.

"And it's not here,"

"Then where is it?"

They rushed back to the car and Beckett dialed the precinct as she was pulling out. Esposito answered. "What's up Beckett?"

"Esposito, Lanie's car is missing. I need you to pull the traffic videos from all the street cameras near Lanie's house. I'm on my way back." She turned to Castle and shot him a dazzling smile. Sometimes she didn't know what she would do without him. "Good job Castle."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Time for a fluffy chapter! :p**  
**Fan shout out of the week: Bella Paige! Hehe. Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad you're loving the story :)**

Kate drove as fast as she could back to the precinct. Castle didn't bother telling her that it would take Esposito a little while to pull all of the videos. They got back to the precinct and Beckett walked up to Ryan. "Any hits on the sketch yet?"

He shook his head. "No but it's still running so maybe we'll get lucky."

"Thanks Ryan." She turned to Esposito. "How long until we can get the videos?"

"We won't have them for another hour and a half."

She could tell he was frustrated and upset. She wished she had another job for him to do, but until the videos came in there was nothing any of them could do.

Until then Esposito sat at his desk looking frustrated and sighing every few minutes. Ryan sat at his desk watching the computer screen scan through images from multiple databases. Kate kept going back and forth from the break room refilling her coffee mug. Castle simply sat there keeping an eye on all three of them and occasionally checking his phone.

After a while Ryans' phone rang and everyone looked up at him as he checked the caller ID. "Crap, it's Jenny, we were supposed to have dinner tonight. She made reservations at this place like a month ago." He was about to pick up the call when Beckett spoke up.

"Go have dinner with her Ryan."

"No way, not while Lanie is still missing." He looked back at his phone as it indicated that he had a missed call.

Beckett stood up and walked over to where he was sitting. "That program runs itself yeah?"

"Yeah."

She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Then go have dinner with your fiancé. If anything pops up one of us will call you, but until those videos get here there is nothing any of us can do."

He looked up at the detective and saw the sincerity in her eyes. He hated walking away but knew she was right. He nodded and walked towards the elevator, already dialing Jenny's number.

Beckett sat back down at her desk and drained what was left in her coffee mug. She knew she had probably had enough coffee for one day but it was one of the few things that comforted her, so she headed for the break room again. After her mug was refilled she looked at her watch. It was just about 5 o'clock. They had 43 hours left. She stood in the doorway looking back and forth between Esposito and Castle.

Castle seemed fairly content. He had a small notebook he was jotting something down in and he hadn't said anything in almost 20 minutes. Esposito on the other hand looked like hell. He kept rubbing his face with his hands and staring over at the murder board. She knew this case was putting as much strain on him as it was on her, if not more. "You should go to Esposito. Like I said to Ryan, until the videos get here there's nothing any of us can do."

He looked at her with a stunned expression. "You think I'm going to leave while she's still missing?" he could feel himself getting worked up again and paused to take a steadying breath. "No, not a chance."

She set her mug down on her desk and went to stand in front of him with her arms crossed. "Esposito, you're tired, frustrated and upset. When the videos get here I will start going through them and call you if I find anything at all."

"I can't just go home and let you do this by yourself."

"You can and you will. You're no good to us, or to Lanie if you're worn out and overtired." She stayed where she was, holding her ground until her words sunk in.

He hung his head for a second then stood up and grabbed his coat. "You'll call me?"

She nodded. "The second I find something. I promise."

He nodded and she watched as he got on the elevator before turning to Castle. "Any chance I can get you to go home too?"

"Do you know me at all detective? As long as you're here so am I."

She was taking another sip from her mug as a man walked up to her holding a shoe-box size of DVDs. "These traffic videos yours?"

She nodded, signed the evidence log and thanked him. Castle perked up a bit as she popped the first video into her computer. He was soon disappointed though as he realized that nothing exciting was going to happen right away. She noticed his reaction and smiled a bit. "Welcome to one of the tedious parts of being a cop."

"Thanks for the invite" he said with a smirk as he went to get himself a cup of coffee.

The software was a bit outdated so while she waited for the video to load she went to check on Ryans' computer. It was still running photos but she could tell it was almost done and still no match had been found. _Who the hell is this guy?_ She asked herself as she watched the program do its job for a minute. She went back to her own computer and seeing the video fully loaded started sifting through video footage. She hated how long it was going to take but knew it needed to be done.

Lanie had a fairly common car so she had to carefully check the license plates of any cars that looked like hers. What made it even worse was she knew the clock was ticking. She didn't realize her mug had been refilled until she lifted it to her lips. She looked up at Castle and smiled. "Thanks."

He simply nodded and let her get back to work. As much as she felt bad that he was staying she was glad for the company. "You don't have to stay you know Castle. I can do this."

"Kate I already told you, I'm not letting you stay here by yourself not while this guy is out there. Plus I already texted Alexis and told her not to wait up."

"Is that why you're staying? Because you're worried something is going to happen to me?"

Rick hesitated a second before nodding slowly.

She reached out and rested a hand on his knee. "Castle, nothing is going to happen to me. It's not me he wants, it's a challenge. He won't get that if he has me too."

"Nevertheless, I'm not leaving you by yourself. I'm sure if I don't stay you'll end up spending the night on the couch in the break room."

She tried not to let it show that that's exactly what she had been planning to do by turning back to the screen and continuing to look through the video. She was barely blinking as she carefully analyzed every second of footage. A couple of hours later she looked up to find Castle gone. She swallowed a hint of panic but figured he had just gone to the bathroom.

A few minutes later she smelled something and looked up from the screen to see Castle walking towards her with two bags. He set both of them on the edge of the desk. Out of one bag he started taking various take out containers and setting them in front of her.

"Thanks." She said, realizing how hungry she was. "What's in the second bag?"

He pushed the bag closer to her so she could see for herself. "A change of clothes, a pair of more comfortable pants and your toothbrush and toothpaste, just in case there's nothing I could do to convince you to come home tonight."

He was still standing and she looked up at him with her jaw hanging. She was touched by the gesture and only slightly surprised that he had known what she was planning to do. Then her thoughts backtracked. "Wait, how long were you gone for? I didn't even noticed you left until a few minutes ago."

"About an hour. You were pretty wrapped up in your video so I didn't say anything. I didn't want to bother you." He smiled down at her as he saw the shock register on her face. And hoped she wasn't upset that he had gone through some of her things.

She stood up to meet him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt him stiffen up for a second before putting his arms around her waist. She knew she didn't usually do this at work but everyone else had left for the night. Plus he deserved at least a hug for this. "Thanks Rick." She said, taking a step back and opening one of the take out containers. As she ate she kept playing the video. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Castle was watching her. She would have asked why he was staring, but she figured she probably looked like hell. His looks said he was more worried about her than anything else.

Castle asked the occasional question or made a remark here and there but for the most part he just let her work and kept the coffee coming. What seemed like a short while later but was actually over an hour Beckett leaned back and stretched from where she sat in the chair. She looked at the clock in the corner of the computer screen and was surprised to see that it was almost 10pm.

"Ready to go home yet?" Castle asked

"Castle I can't. Not tonight. I need to get through these videos."

"The videos will still be here in the morning when Ryan and Esposito are here to help you."

"In case you didn't notice Castle, we are sort of on a time limit here and we don't exactly have a lot of it," she snapped.

He could tell she was getting frustrated and tired. They still hadn't found anything useful. He decided to change tactics. "What you told Esposito goes for you too. You're no good to Lanie worn out and overtired."

Her eyes shot daggers at him as she realized he was using her words against her. She hated that she couldn't find much on the videos, that they were running out of time, that there was nothing she could do. And she hated that he was right. She could feel her energy draining and even the coffee wasn't helping anymore. She knew she needed to get some sleep but she had to find something on these videos. They were the only lead she had and she wasn't ready to let that go.

Her gaze softened and he could see how torn she was. She needed some rest but he knew taking the time to sleep was not very high on her priority list at the moment. "Kate listen to me, we can solve this case and get Lanie back, but we need you focused and rested to do that. You need at least a few hours of actual sleep and you're not going to get that on the couch in the break room. Now I can pick you up and carry you to the car if I have to, but I would really like to not have to do that."

She could see that he wasn't going to budge and she turned back to the computer, shutting the program down. "A few hours," she said as she grabbed her purse and coat. "And then I'm coming back early to finish this."

"Deal."

A little while later they walked in the front door of the loft and dropped their keys on the table by the door. Kate headed straight for the stairs while Rick went around shutting off all the lights. He went upstairs and threw on a pair of sweatpants before getting in bed to wait for Beckett. His mind went through the events of the day, as awful as it was to relive. A big part of him knew they could solve this, but a small voice in the back of his head kept telling him that he had reason to be worried.

When they walked in Kate made a beeline for the shower without saying anything. Castle had kept quiet most of the time she was looking at the videos but she needed this few minutes to herself. She set the water on extra hot and let it sting her skin. She ran her fingers through her hair and tried to make herself relax. It wasn't working. She kept replaying the video they had received of Lanie just sitting there, telling them she was ok. Maybe she had said something that was supposed to be a clue and Kate was just missing it. Maybe there had been something in there they could use after all. Kate tried to push these thoughts away as the water began to release a little bit of the tension in her body. Beckett stalled in the shower for as long as she could but eventually turned the water off and grabbed a towel. After drying off and putting on the sweatpants and old t-shirt she had started using at pajamas she opened the door to see Castle laying on his back in bed, hands behind his head.

She crawled under the covers and scooted close to him, laying her head on his bare chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she wrapped one of hers around his waist. He began rubbing slow, soft circles on her shoulder and she allowed her eyes to close and her breathing to even out. It had been a long day and it felt amazing to just let him hold her.

Kate was close to sleep when she had something she wanted to say. "Castle?"

"Hmm?" he mumbled.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything. For being there today and not…turning anything into a joke. For letting me lose myself and then bringing me back." She pulled herself up to his shoulder and began planting soft kisses on his neck and collarbone. "I'm glad I have you around to keep me grounded, and find me when I lose myself," she said between even more kisses.

He hummed at the feel of her lips on his skin. He shivered as her warm breath hit his neck as she spoke. But he managed to stay focused on her words, and the touch of her lips was nothing compared to the fact that she was telling him how much he meant to her. The voice in his head was trying to convince him that she was only telling him these things because she was afraid that he was going to go missing as well. He made the voice shut up. He knew she meant what she was saying. For her to open up like this was a big deal and he knew she wouldn't say it unless she truly meant every word.

He reached over and put a finger under her chin, tilting her face up until their eyes met. He wanted her to know he meant what he was about to say as well. "I'm glad I'm here too. And I always will be here to come find you. I'm not going anywhere Kate, and I'm not letting you go anywhere either." He pressed a gentle but urgent kiss to her kips, hoping to convey all the emotion that words never could. His life revolved around words, was built by them, but he never seemed to be able to find the right ones for her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Ok, ok I know there's no excuse for taking sooooo long to post the next chapter but I tried to make it extra good for you guys to make up for it. Enjoy **

Lanie was watching her captor carefully, waiting for something she could use against him. Some sign of weakness, anything. She knew that every second she was with him was a chance to turn the tables and get the better of him. Maybe she would find her moment, maybe he would slip. She had to hope for some hint of where she was.

She was surprised when he brought her back a turkey sandwich on one of his excursions out of the room. She ate it gratefully before going back to observing her captor. He seemed to be conflicted but she couldn't tell why. He had kidnapped her but he had also meant it when he told Kate that he hadn't hurt her. He was treating her as if she wasn't there but had brought her food and kept a pitcher of water on the table for her.

The medical examiner had thought about yelling as loud as she could and hoping someone outside would hear her. She had also thought about trying to fight back and overpower him, she was stronger than she looked. Then she thought about just sitting there, and playing along until Kate and the team found her. Lanie had been around her detective friends long enough to know that the first two options were more likely to get her into more trouble rather than out of it. Finally she settled on a different approach. "Why me?" she asked while the man was checking up on her.

He seemed taken aback and turned her way. "Excuse me?"

She repeated her question. "Why me? There are half a dozen other people you could have taken to get your point across."

He leaned back against the table. "Because you were the easiest."

Lanies' New York attitude flared to life. "Now I know you didn't just call me easy."

The man laughed. "You misunderstand my meaning doctor. You were the easiest to take. Not that it was easy, but any of the others would have been much more difficult. People pay attention to the writer everywhere he goes. Same with the captain. I couldn't take Kate for obvious reasons, and the other two detectives know how to fight back too well. I suppose I could have taken Kate's father, but the poor girl already lost her mother, I don't want to stress her out too much. I'm not here to be mean."

"You've obviously been observing our team for a while, so you should know that my man doesn't like it when people take his things. And I'm all his so you had better hope he doesn't get his hands on you because he is going to rip you to shreds."

"So feisty. You know doctor, had we met under different circumstances…" he let his voice trail off as he brought a hand up to her face. She smacked it away and backed up as far as she could. He chuckled and stood up. "I'll be back Ms. Parish."

He left her to sit with her thoughts for a while, and when he came back a couple of hours later he uncuffed her from the chair. She looked at him with shock. "Don't get your hopes up," he said. "It's just bedtime. Don't try anything funny."

He closed the door behind him and she stood there rubbing her wrist. Lanie knew it was pointless to try and get out but she couldn't stop herself from walking over to the door and turning the knob cautiously. It was locked, just as she had suspected. All of a sudden she realized that she was cold and decided she might as well get under the blankets on the bed.

She curled up and wrapped the blankets around her, but it took her a long time to fall asleep. She lay there trying not to wonder what the team was doing or what would happen if they didn't find her within the time limit.

Katherine Beckett's eyes fluttered open and she sat up, glancing over at the man lying next to her. She picked up her phone and checked the time. It was a little after 5am. _At least I got a few hours of sleep_ she thought to herself. After carefully getting out of bed so as not to wake Rick, she grabbed some clothes and got dressed in the bathroom. Kate tip-toed past Alexis' room and down the stairs to the kitchen. As quietly as possible she put on a pot of coffee and found something to eat.

She was halfway through a bowl of cereal when she felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around her waist. "It's early, come back to bed, just for an hour." Rick said, leaning down to leave a trail of kisses along her neck.

She smiled. "Not today Castle." He groaned in protest and she turned to face him, using her legs to pull him closer. He wrapped his arms around her again and she leaned her head against is chest, allowing herself a moment to be comforted. Taking a deep breath she said, "I need to get to the precinct and get through more of those videos. Lanie is counting on me, on us." She looked up to meet Castles' eyes. They still took her breath away every time.

He looked down at her for a moment then nodded and grabbed her coffee.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "That was mine."

He took a big sip and headed for the stairs as he talked. "You can pour yourself another one. I'm going to need this if we're going to work this early."

Her mouth opened and closed a few times and by the time she thought of something to say he had already disappeared into his room. She had figured he would be at the precinct sometime during the day, but hadn't expected him to come with her this early. She shook her head and smiled as she poured more coffee into a travel mug.

A few minutes later Castle reappeared at the top of the stairs, dressed and ready to go. He walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Listen to me, today is going to be hard, but we are all behind you 100% ok?"

She wrapped her arms around him in a quick embrace than pulled back to look at him. "I know, thank you." She stretched up and kissed him before leading the way to the door.

By the time Beckett was sitting at her desk it was a little after 6am. She was opening up the next video as Castle sat next to her yawning and drinking coffee. She noticed him texting and wondered who the heck he was talking to so early. She focused on the videos again but saw him get up out of the corner of her eye. He still had almost a full cup of coffee so she didn't know why he was heading for the break room. She shrugged it off but a couple of minutes later the elevator beeped and her other two partners stepped out. Castle met them halfway to their desks with a cup of coffee in each hand. Ryan and Esposito thanked him and Beckett watched the exchange with a smile on her face. She was glad that she wasn't the only one that had accepted Castle as a part of the team.

"Did you find anything?" Esposito asked as he sat down.

"No, not yet, but we still have like half of these videos to go through." All three of them grabbed another one of the DVDs and started sifting through the video.

Castle sat in his normal chair beside Beckett and watched the three of them work. Suddenly he felt left out and more than a little bit helpless. He knew right now the best he could do was keep their coffee mugs filled and maybe bring them food once in a while, and it kind of hurt him. He knew that the three detectives, even the captain, had long since accepted him as part of the team, but right now he didn't feel like it. He also knew that he had honestly helped on many of the cases, but since the night before all he had done was sit there and watch. He looked at his watch. It was almost 10am, which left them with only 26 hours to find Lanie.

He looked around once more and decided he couldn't just sit there and watch anymore. He looked at each of the three detectives in turn. "You guys need something to eat, so I'm going to go get food. Any requests?"

After taking orders Castle rode the elevator downstairs and got into a taxi. He gave the driver the address of the little café and sat in silence, contemplating the case. Rick knew that Beckett was taking it personally, thinking that it was her fault Lanie had gotten kidnapped. He tried thinking of a way to prove her wrong but knew that it would take more than a little convincing.

Beckett watched Castle get into the elevator and seemed to release a breath once he was out of sight. She was glad he was around but he had been hovering. She had a hard time concentrating with him just sitting there watching her. As much as she didn't want him to leave for very long, she needed her space for a little while. His crowding was starting to make it hard to breathe. She looked up at her partners, who were engrossed in the videos they were watching. She took a steadying breath and turned back to hers.

A minute later her eyes widened. "Guys, I might have something."

The two men were at her side in an instant watching as she rewound the video for a second.

She pointed to a car on the far side of the screen. "That's Lanie right there. She pulls up to the stoplight and takes a left. But that's not the quickest way to get to my house."

Ryan looked at the timestamp and rushed back to his computer. "The video I'm looking at is from the next street over, maybe I can catch something." He fast-forwarded for a minute and then stopped the tape, motioning for Beckett and Esposito to come over. "Look at this, this is the street she turns onto."

They all watched as the familiar car came into the frame and drove towards the camera. Before leaving the frame though, they saw the car turn into a parking lot. Ryan picked out the next video and went right to where they could see Lanie pulling into the lot of a small bakery. Kates' breath caught in her throat as she saw her friend get out of the car and go into the shop. They stood there watching for almost ten minutes but never saw her emerge.

"She doesn't come out of the store, he must have taken her while she was in there." Ryan said, pausing the video.

Beckett thought for a minute before speaking up. "Good job Ryan, keep watching the video and see if anything happens to her car. Esposito, go through the other videos and see if you can find a shot or the back of this building, maybe they went out that way. Castle and I are going to go down there and see if they have anything inside."

She was dialing Ricks number as the elevator opened to reveal him answering his phone. They looked at each other and both hung up at the same time. "What's going on?" he asked, seeing everyone doing something. He handed out the breakfast as Beckett filled him in. He handed her a coffee and a large cinnamon bun he had gotten for her, even though she had said she didn't want anything.

Becketts stomach grumbled and she was glad he had picked something up for her. She let her fingers brush his for a little longer than usual as she took it from him. He smiled at her and asked where they were off to. "It's a little corner bakery a few minutes from Lanie's house. They have the best homemade donuts there. It must have been what she was stopping for."

Kate knew where the bakery was and had them there in ten minutes. She had let him hold her hand on the drive over, thankful for the small gestures of affection. They pulled in and the first thing Beckett did was search the small parking lot for Lanie's car. It was nowhere to be seen. She rubbed her temples for a second to collect herself before getting out of the car with Rick in tow.

They walked into the bakery and looked around. "Do they have cameras in the building?" Castle asked.

Beckett shook her head. "No, it's a family business, it's always been small so they never put any in."

All of a sudden Castle dashed over to one of the refrigerator cases. "Oh my god Beckett! They have my favorite coffee cake here! You can hardly get this anywhere!"

She rolled her eyes. "Castle, focus. We need to find out who was here yesterday." Castle stepped away from the case but threw a longing glance back at the coffee cake. "If you behave I'll let you get one on our way out." She said raising one eyebrow and staring at him with a smirk. He smiled and followed her over to the counter.

"Welcome to Clarke's Bakery, what can I get for you?" said a perky girl behind the counter.

Beckett pulled out her badge and showed it to the girl. "You can start with getting me the names of everyone who worked the morning shift yesterday."

The girl stiffened up. "There were just two of us. It was me and this other kid, Derek."

"Does Derek have a last name?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, it's Derek Howse."

"And your name is?"

"Amy Keller."

Beckett wrote the names down in her pocket notebook then pulled out her phone. She brought up the picture of Lanie and showed it to Amy. "Did you see this woman at all yesterday? She would have been in here a little before 11."

Amy looked at the picture for a second. "Yeah I think she came in, but I was just going on my break. Derek would know more."

Beckett nodded and gave the girl her card. "Thanks Amy, if you think of anything else please call me as soon as possible."

The girl nodded with a slightly dazed expression on her face as Castle and Beckett walked back to the car. "Let's get back to the precinct. Hopefully one of the boys will have something and we can bring this kid in."

The second the elevator doors opened to let them back into the precinct Ryan was calling Beckett over. "I assume you guys noticed that her car wasn't there, well I got the guy jacking it on video."

Beckett and Castle exchanged looks and rushed over to the computer. Ryan hit play and a guy came walking into the parking lot. He stopped and looked at Lanies' car before looking around to see if anyone was watching. When he didn't see anyone he opened the front door and got in. A second later the car pulled out of the lot and out of sight. Ryan stopped the video and looked up at Beckett. "Think that's the guy that took her?"

Kate looked down at the timestamp on the video and shook her head. "No, I was on the phone with the guy at this time. It couldn't have been him. I have the name of a kid that worked at the bakery though. I want you guys to pick him up and see if he knows anything."

Ryan and Esposito nodded and then all four of them looked over as Alexis and one of her friends got off the elevator and walked over to them. "Hey honey what are you doing here?" Castle asked.

"Casey and I were going to a shop up the road and we figured you guys could use some refreshments. I know this is a hard case for everyone." Alexis said, as she held out a paper bag and her friend held out a trey with four cups of steaming coffee.

Castle looked inside and smiled. "Oh sandwiches. Awesome!"

He handed the bag to Ryan and Esposito. The two men each took one out and thanked Alexis and Casey. Alexis noticed the video on the computer and took a step closer. "Is that where Lanie was…taken?"

Beckett walked over and out a hand on the girls shoulder. "We think so. We have a video of the guy that took her car, and a kid that worked there may have seen something but that's all we know right now."

Alexis thought for a second then looked up at Beckett, confused. "Well why don't you bring in the guy that took the car?"

Beckett shifted on her feet. "We will, but the kid that worked there may have seen her get taken. I figure he's a better chance than some random carjacker."

"I'm not trying to step on any toes here detective but it doesn't seem like someone would randomly take a car outside of a place like that. There were only a couple other cars in the lot so it wasn't busy. How did he know she wouldn't be out right away?"

Beckett's jaw dropped and she stuttered for a second. Esposito spoke up. "She has a point. And he didn't even test to see if the doors were locked, he just opened it and started it up."

Castle's eyes got huge. "How did he start the car?"

Beckett found her voice. "He had to have had the keys, so even if he didn't take her he had to have contact with the man that did."

"This is why I love my daughter" Castle said, pulling her into a hug.

Beckett turned to the redhead and her friend. "Alexis you are a genius. And thank you so much for the coffee and sandwiches." She looked down at her watch and swore then turned back to Ryan and Esposito. "Ok boys, we only have 24 hours left. I want the kid from the store and this guy in my interrogation room in an hour."

**Fan Shout Out: I'm Widget thanks for reading since chapter 1, and it looks like you got the break in the case you asked for :p**

**Also in order to help me with this story I have a separate document that is a sort of timeline to help me keep track. If you would like I can post it with the next chapter and keep it updated as the story goes on. Let me know what you think **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**For those who just can't wait to see exactly what happened to Lanie (teelduo I'm glad this story is intriguing you :p)….here is an entire chapter from her POV. This chapter gets you caught up to where the last chapter left off at the precinct. :D**

Lanie woke with a start, half forgetting where she was. She looked around the small room as her breathing calmed. Her eyes landed on the table where a plate of food lay. There were waffles, eggs, and some sausage. Her stomach rumbled and she got up and sat down at the chair. The food was still warm and Lanie assumed that the door closing was what had woken her up. She had been glad to get out of her nightmares though. As she chewed on a piece of the waffle she thought back to the previous morning.

_ Lanie pulled into the small parking lot and parked the car. She didn't bother locking the car as she got out: she would be right back. She inhaled deeply as she walked into the small bakery. It always smelled amazing in there. The owners made everything fresh in the morning and the donuts were irresistible. There were a few isles of simple groceries besides the pastry counter and Lanie decided to grab a bag of chips while she was there. It was a girls day after all. She walked to the snack isle and squeezed past a man in order to get to the Doritos. _Those are my favorite _he had said. She had replied with _Mine too.

Lanie speared a sausage with the fork and ate it slowly, amazed at how good it tasted. She wondered if the team had any idea where she was yet, or exactly what had happened. She knew if anyone could find her it was them, but she also knew they probably didn't have a whole to go on.

Your friend will like them too _he had said, taking a step towards her. She took a step back out of pure instinct but he matched her movement. _Excuse me? _she had asked. _You know, your…detective friend._ His grin had sent a shiver down the medical examiners spine. _I…I think you have the wrong person _she stuttered before attempting to turn and walk out of the isle. _

Lanie looked down at the plate as some eggs fell off her fork. She realized her hands were shaking as she relived the memory of being taken. She knew she should stop, just stop thinking about it, but she wanted to make sure she remembered every detail for afterwards. Everything had taken place quietly so as not to arouse suspicion.

_As she turned to walk away he grabbed her arm and she spun around, ready to defend herself. Lanie stopped dead when she saw what he had reached for on his belt. He was holding her in place with one arm and unholstering a gun with the other. She froze and looked at him wide-eyed. _Now doctor Parish, you are going to come with me and you aren't going to make a fuss about it is that clear? _Lanie simple kept staring and nodded. _Good choice doctor. Now you are going to walk out ahead of me, but we are going out the back. _She nodded again and slowly turned around to walk towards the back door of the store. She wondered if a fire alarm would go off then they opened the door, but when it opened and nothing happened she almost felt tears come to life in her eyes. She had dealt with a lot in working with Beckett and the team, but never anything like this. She was a strong woman and could defend herself given the chance but she knew she was way out of her league this time. _

Lanie dropped her fork and rested her head in her hands, closing her eyes. She continued thinking back to the morning before. She could still feel the blindfold he had put over her eyes and the cuffs he had put on her hands before forcing her into a car that wasn't hers. She had sat there shouting for a minute until she felt the cold metal of a gun pressed against her head. The voice had told her if she wanted to live long enough to see her friends again she had better keep her mouth shut. She had kept quiet and tried to figure out where they were going by listening to what was happening outside the car, but the music was so loud all she could hear was the pounding bass.

Lanie pushed her plate away and stood up, walking back over to the bed as tears threatened to spill over. She focused on the man's face. She knew she might have been the only one that saw it. She wanted to be able to give a description if he got away when Kate and the team came for her.

He had dark hair that was cropped short and thick eyebrows that matched in color. His eyes had some sort of fire behind them that told her he knew what he was doing and loved it. They were an icy blue color, almost abnormally light. He hadn't been altogether unattractive but there was something about him that had seemed slightly sinister. The way he talked made her think he was from somewhere in Europe, and he was educated.

Lanie hated to admit it, but she was scared. During her time at the precinct she had heard about, and helped solve, kidnappings before, but being the victim of one was totally different. She had to fight to keep her breathing steady as she slowly came to the realization that there was nothing she could do. She had to rely completely on the skills of her friends. As much as she trusted and believed in them she was still terrified.

She looked around her. Lanie was surprised that her captor hadn't come back in to cuff her back to the chair. He hadn't made an appearance since the night before, except to drop off the breakfast. She spent a little while just sitting on the bed, waiting for him to come in and say or do something that would change her situation. When he didn't come in after a while she got up and started pacing. She stopped at the table and poked at one of the waffles. It had become a bit cold but she knew she had to eat something so she sat at the table and began nibbling at it anyways.

A minute later Lanie heard a key turning in the lock on the door. She stood up and put the chair between her and the man that would be opening it any second. He walked in and smiled at her. "Morning doctor. I trust you slept well?" When Lanie didn't say anything he continued "And was the breakfast satisfactory?"

This time she nodded and opened her mouth. "Beckett and her team are going to find me soon you know."

The man chuckled. "I very much doubt that Ms. Parish." He looked at his watch. "It's already noon, which means they only have 24 hours. What do you say we call your detectives and leave them an encouraging message?"

**Well? Lemmie know what you think. Next chapter will be up soon :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Again, sorry for the hiatus. Turns out being in college is quite the time suck. Also there is a part in the chapter that deals with a timeline of events that have been mention on the show but not really talked about in detail, so I took a few liberties **

As soon as Beckett told the boys to bring in Derek Howse and the man from the surveillance video she decided she needed to go for a walk. She wasn't sure where her feet would take her but she started walking away from her desk anyway.

Castle watched her go before turning to Ryan and Esposito. "Is there anything at all I can do to help you guys?"

Ryan shook his head. "Nope, I'm just looking for anID on this guy."

"No man," Esposito said. "Go after her."

Castle followed her at a short distance but didn't call out to her. He wanted to give her a little space just as much as he wanted to make sure she was ok.

Kate was aware of Rick following her as she took the stairs down and took a left. She pushed open the doors to the autopsy room and the medical examiner's office and was glad when he stayed outside. She sat down in Lanies' chair and brought her knees up to her chest. She spun herself around so she was facing out into the room. It was amazing how much she could feel Lanies' presence in the there. Beckett inhaled and detected the faint scent of her friend's perfume. She could almost see Lanie standing there, working on a body and talking to her. Telling her things like if she didn't let some of her feelings out she was going to get an ulcer, or when Lanie had told her about the Mr. July firefighter. She spun the chair around to face the desk and noticed a picture set in a frame that she hadn't noticed on previous visits to the office. She picked it up and sniffed back a tear. "You can come in now!" she called to Castle, who she had a feeling was still waiting in the hallway.

She heard the doors open and a second later she felt his arms around her shoulders as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He looked down at the picture she was holding in her hand. The picture had been taken years ago and the faces staring out of it seemed much more carefree than they were now. On the left, a younger Beckett stood on a dock holding a fish that was almost half as big as she was at arm's length. The look on her face said that it had taken a lot of convincing to get her to stand there and hold it. On the right stood a younger Lanie with a huge grin on her face as if she had been laughing. They were both soaking wet, And Kate's face was red from the sun.

Castle couldn't help but focus on Beckett's facial expression. "So you can handle serial killers and dead bodies but not a fish?"

Kate tilted her head back so that they were looking at each other upside down. She scrunched up her nose and said "they're slimy."

Castle laughed and leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. He then watched as she leaned forward and put the picture back in its place.

"It feels like that was taken a lifetime ago," she said.

Castle didn't say anything but wrapped his arms around her a little bit tighter and let her continue.

"I had been out of the academy for a little while and I had just started working with Lanie. We had hung out a couple of times but weren't best friends or anything. It was around then that my dad started having a few sober days in a row. On one of his good weekends, he decided that we were going to learn how to fish. I didn't want to go so I convinced him to let me bring Lanie with us. We woke up at some ungodly hour and drove to the New York Harbor and rented a canoe, because we didn't have a big boat or anything. We had been out there for like two hours and nobody had caught anything because none of us had ever done it before. And then I caught that thing. They were both laughing at me so hard as I tried to reel it in and we almost tipped the boat over. We managed to stay dry until we were almost back to shore, and the fish started flopping around all over the place in the bag we had put it in, and me and Lanie started freaking out, and the boat tipped over. My dad managed to grab the fish before it got away just so he could take a picture. Lanie couldn't stop laughing. We spent a lot more time together after that." He voice trailed off as she realized how much she had just said.

Castle spun her chair around so they were facing each other. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For telling me these things, for sharing a piece of your life with me. I know it's not something you do with everyone and it makes me feel….special."

She blushed and looked away. "Yeah…um…you're welcome. But we should get back upstairs and see what the boys found." She allowed the writer to take her hand and pull her into a brief hug before they headed for the stairs. They got back to the bullpen to see Esposito putting on his jacket and grabbing his keys.

"Did you find something?" Beckett asked.

"Yeah, I found your boy Derek Howse. He lives with a roommate about ten minutes away."

Beckett nodded and turned to Ryan. "Did you get an ID on our car thief?"

"It's printing out now," he said, getting up and walking over to the communal printer. He pulled the sheets of paper out and glanced at them. "Well, he certainly has a reputation."

She took the papers from Ryans' outstretched hand and read aloud. "Samuel Harris, 32, criminal record started at 21. Broke into a liquor store, domestic assault, arson and he did a nickel upstate for grand theft auto. Ryan, you go with Esposito to pick up Derek, Castle and I will go pick up Mr. Harris."

Esposito took a step forward and spoke up. "With all due respect detective, I'd like to come with you."

Beckett was about to protest but dialed in on the look her partner had in his eyes. She could tell he wasn't just being defiant, that wasn't like Esposito. No, there was something else there, something determined. She knew he was going to do everything he could to save Lanie. "Esposito…" she started.

Ryan and Castle watched as Esposito's voice became stronger. "Beckett I can handle myself, I can do this. If that man had anything to do with Lanie getting kidnapped then I want to be there when he gets taken down. I'm not letting him get away."

Kate stared at him for another second, seeing the conviction in his eyes. She nodded. "Ok, you guys go get Derek, I'll get an unmarked car keeping tabs on Harris."

Ryan and Esposito nodded and took off. Castle turned to Beckett. "Why an unmarked car?"

"C'mon Castle, you've been following me for two years and you don't know the answer to that one?"

His face fell and she smiled. "A guy with a past like his will smell a cop car a mile away. Plus, we almost always use unmarked cars to keep tabs on people."

Castle nodded and sat down to watch as she prepared for the interrogation. He knew enough not to bother her.

Kate pulled out Derek's file and began reading through it. She was grateful for the silence Castle allowed her to have, even if she knew it would only last a few minutes. It was a ritual she had always had, to always prepare for an interrogation. She knew it was part of why she was so good at it, because she never went in unprepared and she almost never let anything catch her off guard. She was going to be ready for this one. Even if this kid didn't do it, he had to have seen something, and she was going to find out what.

Castle watched as she tuned everything out and poured all of her focus into the pages before her. It was one of the things he liked so much about her, her ability to focus on something until she figured it out. Her ability to pour everything she had into a case just because it was what she felt was right. The single minded determination she used to face any challenge that was thrown at her.

They both looked up, startled, as an e-mail notification popped up on Beckett's computer with a loud beep. They looked at each other and then back at the computer. Kate clicked the 'open' button and they watched in shock as another video of Lanie appeared on the screen.


	8. The Test: Timeline

**Ok, here is the timeline i had talked about posting. a couple people showed interest so i figured would put it up. It is just a rough draft, nothing fancy, but i hope it helps clear up any discrepencies about when things are happening :)**

**Day 1**

Kate leaves loft at 10:30  
Meeting Lanie at 11  
First call to Lanie at 11:30  
Call from man at 12ish **48 hours from this point  
**Gets to precinct and gets video at around 1pm  
Get to café at 1:30  
Reads letter at 2  
Leaves for Lanie's house at 2:30  
Back to precinct at 3:30  
Get traffic videos at 5  
Home at the loft at 10:30pm

**Day 2**

Back at precinct at 6am  
Castle goes for breakfast at around 10am  
Leave for bakery at 11am  
Alexis brings lunch at noon  
**Chapter entirely from Lanies point of view, brings us up to the same time frame.**  
Second video arrives at Becketts computer at 12:30pm


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

The video started and Castle heard Becketts' sharp intake of breath. They watched as Lanie sat there eating some sort of sandwich and the male voice spoke in the background. "You have one minute." It said.

Lanie swallowed and looked at the camera. "Hey Kate, boys, I'm doing fine, really." Neither Beckett or Castle missed the slight tremors in her voice, but they didn't say anything and kept watching. Lanie continued. "As you can tell, at least I have food, though it would be nicer if it wasn't cardboard waffles and dry turkey sandwiches."

The kidnappers' voice interrupted, "watch what you're saying. Minute's over." Lanie glared at the man behind the camera but went back to eating. The voice over went on. "We've just passed the 24 hour mark detective Beckett, and I bet you're no closer to figuring out who I am or where I'm keeping your friend. Time is running out detective, brace yourself for the end."

The video went dark and Castle looked over at Beckett. Her face was frozen with her eyes stuck to the computer screen. She took a shaky breath but didn't move. "Beckett?" Castle said quietly.

His voice seemed to break her spell and she pulled up the tracing program on her computer. She ran the video through the program and came up with another IP address from an internet café. She looked over at Castle. "Ready for a field trip?"

A few minutes later they pulled up outside a small, but chic looking, building. The sign out front named it the Kava Café. Beckett had been there once, before they had remodeled. They walked up to the front counter. Beckett showed the person behind it her badge and the sketch of the man they had gotten from the girl at the first café. "I'm detective Kate Beckett. This man came in here about 15 minutes ago and used the internet…did he leave anything for me here?"

The woman nodded and reached under the counter, pulling out an envelope. "He said a detective would come in with a writer asking for him." She turned to Castle. "Are you a writer?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever heard of Derek Storm?" the lady shook her head and Beckett stifled laughter. "Well, yeah, I'm a writer." He finished. The lady handed the envelope to Beckett and she thanked her as they walked over to a table in the corner. Beckett knew they wouldn't find anything else there so she sat down and looked at the letter in her hands. The envelope had her name written on it, just as the last one had. She pulled the paper out and read it out loud so Castle could hear her.

_I'm almost insulted detective, you're supposed to be the best yet you're no closer to finding me. you're still just running in circles. I had the impression that you were much better than this, but my game isn't turning out to be much fun. 23 hours Kate, don't let me down._

She looked down at her watch. He was almost spot on with the time. She handed the letter to Castle as she put her face in her hands and looked down at the placemats on the table. All of a sudden a realization hit her that almost knocked the breath out of her lungs. She sat in stunned silence for a second, simply staring down at the placemats.

Castle looked back and forth from the table top to her a couple of times before giving up. "Ok, I don't get it…what's so special about the placemat?"

She looked up at him with her mouth open and then sprang into action. She stood up from the table, almost knocking her chair over as she grabbed Castles arm. Despite his questions and protests she didn't say anything until they got back into the car and were driving at a breakneck speed back to the precinct.

"Kate will you please tell me what's going on?" He was almost yelling by this time.

"I've been to that café before, with Lanie."

"Ok, so…"

"All she did was complain about the food there. She said the coffee was always cold or something. When she finds something wrong with a restaurant she doesn't forget it. In the video he just sent us she said something about cardboard waffles and her sandwich being dry."

Castle let this process for a second before the light bulb over his head clicked on. "She's sending us clues to where he's getting the food he's giving her!"

"Bingo."

"Do you remember where you guys were when she didn't like the waffles or sandwiches?"

"I'm trying to remember. It's been a while since both of us had the same day off to do anything."

Castle let her sit the rest of the drive in silence. They pulled up to the precinct and saw Espositos' car already back, which meant Derek was waiting for her in interrogation. They took the elevator up and Castle let the silence stretch on, sensing that Kate was still trying to remember where her and Lanie had gone out to eat.

Ryan and Esposito looked up as they came in. "Derek is in interrogation 1 waiting for you." Esposito said. "You didn't go get Harris without me did you?"

Beckett shook her head. "No, we got another video." She pulled it up and let the boys watch it. "I traced the IP address to another internet café. We went there and got another letter, but all it does is taunt us some more."

Castle interrupted. "But then Beckett remembered that she had been to that café before, with Lanie."

"And then I remembered what she said in the video about the cardboard waffles and dry turkey sandwich."

Ryan looked skeptical. "So she's letting us know he's giving her crappy food?"

Beckett huffed and talked faster. "No, whenever me and her went out to eat, if there was something wrong with the food it was all she talked about for a day. She never forgets when something is wrong with a menu."

"She's giving us clues." Esposito said with awe. "That's my girl." He finished, under his breath.

"Exactly." Beckett said as she picked up Derek's file off of her desk. "I want you guys to get a map of the city. I want the two cafes he sent the videos from on there. I'm still trying to think of the places Lanie was giving us clues to. I'm going to go talk to Mr. Howse." She turned to Castle. "Castle, I know you've helped a lot with some interrogations, but I'm going to ask you to sit this one out."

He could see her bracing herself for a bad reaction but it was unnecessary. He could tell this was something she wanted, and probably needed to do herself. All he hoped was that she wasn't pushing him away completely, though he would have understood if she was. After all it was his creation of Nikki Heat that this kidnapper had heard of and come to test. He couldn't help but feel a little bit responsible for the position he had put these people in, these people that he had come to call some of his only true friends. They had all done so much for him and now, because of him, one of their own had been put in danger.

"Castle?" he heard Beckett's voice ask cautiously. He blinked a couple of times and realized he must have zoned out.

"Oh, yeah, it's fine. Go ahead. I'll just watch, or help the boys if they need it."

Beckett hesitated but nodded and headed off to the interrogation room.

The three men followed and went into the observation room to watch their partner at work. They watched as she sat down in front of Derek Howse and got him to confirm his shift the morning Lanie had been taken. "How does she do it?" Castle asked.

"What are you talkin about bro?" Esposito answered.

Castle looked over at the man next to him. "Your girlfriend, one of her best friends, someone she has worked with for years, was kidnapped, and she's in there acting like it's just any other case. I don't get it."

Ryan spoke up before Esposito could say anything. "That's just Beckett. It's how she's been since I've known her at least."

"There are cases that get to her, there are cases that get to all of us," Esposito said. "But if we let that show in interrogations, the real criminals, they would pick up on that in a second. They can tell where someone has a weak spot. Especially with her past, she had to learn quickly how to hide that stuff while she was talking to people. She just got a lot better at it than most people do."

Castle looked back at the brunette in the room in front of them and was just amazed by how strong she was, how strong she had had to become. He knew she had dealt with a lot regarding her mothers' case, both on and off the force, but every time he learned something new about her it was like he was still on the tip of the iceberg.

Ryan spoke up again. "We should go get that map she wanted."

The other two men nodded and the three of them walked out of the room and back to their desks. Castle used Becketts' computer to pull up a map of the city and print it out. He stuck it to the murder board, which they were inconspicuously calling the white board every time they needed to reference it, and stood back as Ryan and Esposito each went up and circled a building on the map. Now all they could do was wait until Beckett got out of the interrogation and hope that she had remembered the names of the places Lanie was giving them clues to.

Castle was just sitting and staring at the map when he had a sudden thought. He got up and walked back over to the board where the map was hanging. He looked at the distance between the two spots circled. "How far apart do you think those are?"

Ryan looked up at the writer with a puzzled look on his face. "Ummm…"

Esposito pushed a few buttons on the computer. "Seven miles. 15 minute drive on a bad day. Why?"

Castle wrote 'seven miles' on the board under the map and was about to answer when the interrogation room door opened and Beckett walked out. The three men looked up at her expectantly. She walked over to her desk and flopped down in her chair, pinching the bridge of her nose with two fingers. She looked up at the three pairs of eyes that were glued to her and shook her head. "He doesn't know anything. He says he saw the man come in, but the back door was left open because they had just gotten a shipment in. There's a display in front of the door from where he was standing so he didn't see anyone go in or out of it." she leaned back and noticed that Castle wasn't sitting in his chair next to her desk like he usually was. She pointed to where he was standing and addressed Ryan and Esposito. "What is he doing to my board?"

Castle looked down at the marker in his hand and opened and closed his mouth a couple of times but nothing came out. He looked over at Esposito and the detective spoke up. "He was asking about how far apart the two places on the map were. But hasn't told us why yet."

Beckett turned in her chair to look at Rick and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, do explain. Why are you touching my board and why does it matter how far apart the restaurants are."

He put the marker down and rushed over to sit in his usual spot. Beckett leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand. Castle started talking in a slightly rushed tone. "I was doing research for Derrick Storm, the book not the character, it's the first in the Storm series, but you know that already don't you? Anyways, I was doing research and there is a missing person at the beginning of the story and statistics show that if a kidnapper is holding someone hostage, and has to leave whatever building they are holding said hostage in, they don't usually go more than 10 miles or 15 minutes away. Now we have two points on a map, which is good…."

Beckett caught on to his train of thought and interrupted him. "But if I can remember where me and Lanie went out to eat then we would have 4 points,"

"Which would make it easier to triangulate a possible area where he might be keeping her."

Beckett's eyes were sparkling as she looked into Castle's for a second longer than she should have. "I remembered one of them. Café Henri, the place with the dry sandwiches."

Esposito opened up the internet and did a search for the café. A minute later he was circling it on the map. "This one is four miles from the place he sent the first video and six from where he sent the second one."

"Do you remember the other place?" Ryan asked Beckett.

She thought for a minute and then shook her head. "No, but we can do a search for breakfast places within ten miles of the other three. I'd recognize it if I saw it."

Ryan nodded and pulled up a program on his computer. He put in the addresses of the other three places and added a search radius. Beckett came to stand behind his chair as the program did its job.

She stared as four names popped up. She pointed to one. "That one, the Iris Café. Lanie went on about their waffles for like a week." She looked at the address and went over to the map. Circling the last building and standing back she realized the four locations made a small square. She shot Castle a look of excitement and gratitude and then turned back to the board. "That son of a bitch is keeping her somewhere within that square."

She turned to Ryan and Esposito. "Get back up in that area, and give every patrol car and undercover cop this guys' picture. Have them get close but we don't want to spook him if we can help it. Set up a perimeter first, block off any streets he might use to get out and watch the other ones. After that I want our guys looking for anything out of the ordinary. Tell them to go door to door with that sketch if that's what it takes. We aren't letting him get away with this."

**Ok, first I would like to say that for this chapter I did actually use real New York restaurants but did not use their real actual locations. That being said I know nothing about the food or coffee from these places, I am sure they are all very good. Haha, so I am not trying to say that these places have bad food or anything. The links to information about them are below.**

**Also I've started to realize that this story might be quite a bit shorter than the last story. This has sort of taken on a mind of its own and it moving a lot quicker than I thought it would. **

**Anyways….hope you liked this chapter **

.

.com/biz/cafe-henri-new-york#query:small%20cafe

.com/biz/iris-cafe-brooklyn-2#query:small%20cafe


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

**Stupid school and work getting in the way of my Castle obsession. Lol. Anyways, here is a new chapter. Hope you enjoy it **

**DISCLAIMER: I used a quote from the episode Knockdown: season3 episode13. This quote does not belong to me, it belongs to the wonderful writers of the show and they deserve full credit for it. **

**Also I updated the timelone for those of you who read it :)**

Half an hour later there was a patrol car watching every exit of the five block radius that was their best bet of finding Lanie. Kate was checking off the streets on the map as officers radioed in that they were there. Ryan and Castle were watching her in silence, with the occasional glance over at Esposito, who was sitting at his desk fidgeting almost uncontrollably. They could all tell he just wanted to screw the interrogation with the car thief and just go find where she was being kept.

Captain Montgomery poked his head out of his office. "Can I see you guys in my office for a minute? You too Castle."

The four of them exchanged nervous looks but followed the captain into his office and shut the door behind them. They stood in a line in front of their superiors' desk and waited for him to say something.

The captain leaned back in his chair for a second and looked at the team standing in front of him. Every single one of them looked tired, worn out and anxious. "What have you got?" he asked.

Kate spoke up first. "I interviewed the kid that was working at the bakery when Lanie was taken, but he didn't know anything. He said that the door was blocked by an isle but that it was unlocked because they had just gotten a shipment in."

Esposito spoke next. "In the last video this wacko sent us Lanie managed to get us clues about where he was getting her food from, and we put those places on a map along with the two places he sent the video from. We got a radius of where she might be." He looked over at Castle. "The part about putting the places on a map was Castles' idea sir."

Montgomery looked over at the writer that was standing a step behind Beckett and to her right. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Castle took a step forward and after getting a nod from Beckett began to talk. "Well sir, I was doing research for my first Derrick Storm novel and I found out that kidnappers don't usually leave the house while they have someone. But if they do, they will only go about 10 miles or 15 minutes away, tops. With the points on the map we were able to figure out a probable hiding place."

The captain nodded with an impressed look on his face. "That's good work Castle. You've all done good work. Now what are you waiting for in getting over there and starting the search?"

"Well sir," Kate said. "There is one more suspect I'd like to interrogate. It's the man that we got on video stealing Lanie's car. When he took the car he just got right in and drove off, which means he probably had the keys."

Captain Montgomery nodded. "Good, get on that and then I want all of you in that area with backup doing everything you can to find out where she is."

The team nodded in unison and headed back to the bullpen. "Alright guys, let's go pick up Sam Harris and see what he can give us." Beckett said as she grabbed her keys and they all headed for the elevator.

Ten minutes later the two cars pulled up in front of a rundown apartment building. There was an alley next to the building and Beckett pulled her car up so it was blocking the escape. They got out of the car and surveyed the scene in front of them. Beckett turned to the writer standing next to her. "Any chance I can get you to stay in the car?"

"No way." Castle said, putting his 'Writer' vest on, and the three detectives did the same.

Kate sighed. "Alright, but you stay behind me, no matter what."

"Got it."

The four of them walked up to the front door. Beckett knocked and called out "Mr. Harris? This is the NYPD we have a search warrant, open up!" There was no answer and Beckett signaled for Esposito to go around back. She kicked in the front door and her and Ryan went into the front hallway in front of Castle. The two detectives swung their guns from side to side, quickly clearing the front few rooms, the kitchen and a bedroom. Castle waited in the front hall until Beckett gave him the ok to come in farther. They were in the kitchen looking around when they heard the sounds of a struggle from outside. There was a door to the back yard in the kitchen and Beckett flung it open, gun raised. Castle was a step behind her trying to see what was going on.

Esposito had Sam Harris up against the side of the building and they had knocked over a trash can and an old bicycle in the process. Beckett holstered her gun and went to help him out. She read Harris his rights as Esposito put the cuffs on him. Castle watched from the doorway as everything happened. Ryan and Esposito each took an arm of their prisoner and brought him around to the cars, shoving him in the back of the nearest one. Beckett nodded to then and they got in the front seat of that car while her and Castle took the other one. They all headed back to the precinct.

Beckett was quiet on the way home and Castle was starting to worry about her. He knew everyone was taking this case hard, but he also knew she was prone to pushing people away. "What's going on?" he asked quietly, almost afraid that she wouldn't answer.

"Hmm?" she said, looking over at him. It was obvious that she had been off in her own little world.

"I asked what was going on. You've been really quiet today. I mean I know this case is…beyond difficult but I just…you don't have to deal with this by yourself." his voice trailed off as something passed over her face that almost confirmed his suspicions. She glanced over at him again quickly, but by the time she turned back to the road whatever had flown across her face was long gone.

She took a second to say anything, and when she did he could tell her voice was slightly strained. "I'm not pushing you away Castle, I…I'm glad you're here. None of us would have thought of plotting the points on a map."

Something in her voice faltered and he caught the underlying meaning in her words. Was she hurt that he had come up with the idea before her? He had helped out like that on plenty of cases and she hadn't seemed offended. Maybe because it was Lanie? He wasn't sure what to say, or if he could say anything that would make her feel better. Thoughts starting whirling around in his head. Maybe he should stop helping out on all the cases, maybe he should stop hanging around the precinct so much, what if she was having second thoughts about moving in with him? He made himself stop and focus on the problem at hand. Things would be ok when this was over, he told himself. They had to be. Because now that Kate Beckett was in his life he knew he wanted her to stay there.

They pulled up to the precinct and Castle and Beckett watched as Sam Harris was dragged upstairs and directly into interrogation room one. Kate picked his file off her desk and skimmed through it, refreshing her memory. She took the picture they had printed out of his getting into Lanies' car off the murder board and stuck it in the file. She looked over at Esposito and he nodded back at her, going over to open the door to the interrogation room. Castle looked at her with his head cocked to the side.

She looked over at Castle and was caught off guard by his almost hurt expression. "I…I'm sorry Castle, we really need to break this guy and…I need Esposito in there with me." she stammered. She watched as Rick put on a smile and nodded, then turned around and walked through the door Esposito had opened for her.

After the door had closed behind her Castle took a deep breath and sat down in his chair by her desk. He noticed Ryan staring at him. "What?"

Ryan narrowed his eyes. "You ok man?"

Castle thought about lying for a second but decided against it. Ryan would know if he lied anyways. He was a trained detective. "That makes two interrogations she hasn't let me in on. It's unusual is all."

Ryan leaned back in his chair and looked at the writer. "You think she's ditching you?"

"I don't know, I think she's trying to put too much of this case on her shoulders. This is hard enough on everyone without her doing that."

Ryan got up and moved a chair closer to where Castle was sitting. "You know, sometimes I don't think she can help it. I think every time her mom's case comes up, and still isn't solved, it just makes her want to work harder at everything."

"I just care about her," Castle said. This wasn't a side of him he normally let out in public, but he knew he could trust Ryan, and also knew that he had to talk to someone about it. "I don't like seeing her wound so tight. I wish I could make her see that she doesn't have to do everything herself. She has you and Esposito and me all here for her."

"She's always going to be like that to an extent. It's in her nature." He regarded the writer with a wary glance for a second before continuing. "She was a lot worse before you came around you know. Since you guys got together, even before that, she's changed a lot. She smiles more, and makes jokes, she's a whole new detective." Castle raised an eyebrow and Ryan hastily added "in a good way of course."

The writer laughed a little bit. "Thanks Ryan."

The both of them lapsed into silence as they waited for Beckett and Esposito. Castle thought of all the hints people had made over the years about how Beckett had been before he came along. He gathered that she had been depressed after her mom's murder, which was natural. He had also managed to figure out that she had come really close to completely losing herself in her moms' case after she became a cop, and before he had come to the precinct she had been even more wound up and by the book than she was now. He hoped that one day she would tell him the full extent of everything but knew enough not to ask until she bought the topic up.

To Ryan and Castle the interrogation seemed to take forever. After their conversation about Beckett they didn't talk much but sat in a semi-comfortable silence, broken only by trips to the break room for coffee. Finally the door opened and the two detectives stepped emerged, looking worn out. Castle immediately got up and gave the mug of coffee he had just filled to Beckett. She took it and smiled with gratitude. Looking over at Ryan she said "I want a surveillance van out in the blocked off area with audio equipment. Give them a map and the sketch and have them start ruling out some of the houses. Maybe we can narrow down our search a bit. They can rule out any house that has kids. This guy isn't from around here so pay special attention to anything that seems out of place, maybe a rental car, or houses where it looks like nobody is home. They can turn on the dish and listen for anything suspicious too." She sat down and looked at the other two men standing in front of her.

Esposito took over explaining how the interrogation went as Beckett began the process of draining the contents of the mug in her hands. "Harris confessed to taking the car, but he didn't have any direct contact with the kidnapper. Not today at least." Ryan and Castle gave him a questioning look and he began to clarify. "Harris shared a jail cell with our mystery man almost six years ago. Harris was in for skipping out on traffic court and according to the story he was told, our kidnapper was in for drunk and disorderly and resisting arrest. They were both in for two months but Harris got locked up a week and a half earlier."

Ryan spoke up. "Well that's good right? If they shared a cell Harris can give us a name."

Beckett looked up from her almost empty mug and shook her head. "The only name Harris was ever given was a nickname. 'Gun' was what the kidnapper went by, he never gave any other name."

This time it was Castles' turn to speak. "If he didn't know his cell mates name then how did he have contact with him now to get the car?"

Beckett drained the cup in her hands and stood up, going over to the white board and writing things down as she spoke. "When Harris got out he left his number with our guy. Told him to call if he ever needed a place to stay in the area. Our kidnapper took him up on the offer once or twice in the past five years, but still never gave another name. When he got another call yesterday morning Harris assumed he was going to ask if he could stay again, but this time he told him that there was a set of keys taped underneath a trash can lid behind this little bakery and that he could have the car they belonged to as long as he kept quiet."

"So we're back at square one." Ryan said, rubbing his face with his hands.

"We still have that area blocked off." Castle chimed in hopefully.

Beckett nodded. "Yes we do. Ryan and Esposito, you guys head over there. Meet up with the surveillance van and help them narrow down the houses. We don't have time to search them all. Castle and I will update the captain and meet you over there."

The two male detectives nodded and raced off. They knew the clock was still ticking and didn't want to waste any time. Beckett looked at Castle and motioned for him to follow her to the captains' office. She knocked and poked her head in the office. "Captain? We have an update."

He beckoned them in and they closed the door behind them. Beckett told him what had happened in the interview while Castle stayed silent.

"So where are Ryan and Esposito?" Montgomery asked.

"I sent them to meet up with the surveillance team while we talked to you. We're going to meet up with them in a few minutes, I just had to ask you something." Castle looked over at Beckett with curiosity in his eyes. It wasn't every day that she asked a favor of the captain.

"Whatever I can do to help Detective." He said.

"Sir, I'd really like to get out in the field as soon as possible to help narrow down possible houses and then search the rest, but if we can get the records from when Harris was in jail and see who his cell mates were we can get a name. I don't know if it will helps us find the guy, but we need to know who he is at some point."

Captain Montgomery nodded. "Sure thing Detective, I'll look that up and get the file, but then I'm meeting you in the field. Nobody takes one of our people and gets away with it. I'm going to help you take this guy down."

"Thank you sir. I'll call you if we get anything before you get to us."

The captain nodded and Beckett spun around and walked back to her desk, grabbing her coat and keys. "You don't have to come you know Castle, I signed up for this when I put that badge on, you didn't. We're going to be going all night, I understand if you want to go home."

"Kate, if you're there then so am I. I'm not letting you do this alone."

She pursed her lips for a second and then nodded. "Ok, but there are some ground rules."

"Whatever you say."

She was surprised at his answer but didn't pause. "You wear your vest at all times and you stay behind one of us if we have to check a house. If any of us tell you to do something you do it without hesitation or asking any questions. This is different than anything we've done before, and it's not a scene in one of your books. This is a very real situation and we can't afford any mess ups. Got it?"

"Understood." He turned and started walking to the elevator, knowing they had to get going, but Beckett called him back.

"And Castle? I want you to take my backup gun, just in case."

He nodded and walked back to where she was standing and holding the weapon out. He let his fingers touch hers as he took it from her. "I'm not going to let you guys down Kate."

Kate had put a lot of walls up since the start of this case and she knew he could tell as she made eye contact. She tried to force a smile as she said "I know" but wasn't sure how it came out. Before either of them could say anything else she turned and walked away, leaving him staring after her, wondering if things were going to be ok.

.

**Ok so what did you think? I really do love reviews, either good or constructive so please leave them, it lets me know people are still reading. Also this is the longest chapter I've ever written so yay for that :D next one will be up soon I promise**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10**

**Ok, so I thought the last chapter was long, but this one is almost twice the length of my last chapter, making it the longest thing I've ever written outside of school. Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter. It gets a bit intense but I threw some Caskett fluff in at the end to lighten it up a bit **

The man finished recording and left Lanie alone in the room, slamming the door behind him. He had been upset about her saying something about the food, but obviously didn't take it as anything more than an insult. He had, however, left her cuffed to the chair.

The medical examiner was proud of herself for having gotten the clues to the team, and was confident that Beckett would be able to figure them out. God knows she complained about food enough. Kate had joked about it with her too. She wasn't necessarily picky, she just liked her food done right, and that wasn't a crime was it?

Lanie leaned back in her chair and thought about what the team was doing, how close they were to finding her. She thought about what time it was and how long she had left. She thought about how long it had been since her keeper had let her out to go to the bathroom, with him standing outside the door, gun drawn.

As she was sitting there, Lanie recalled something she had learned the one summer she had decided to try yoga. The yoga hadn't lasted long, but one of the breathing and stretching exercises had stuck with her and she used it from time to time to relax herself. She couldn't do the stretching part while stuck to the chair but she started the breathing portion and felt her mind begin to ease slightly.

After what seems like forever the door opened to reveal her captor with a microwave pizza on a plate. He set it on the table in front of her and stepped back to lean against the wall next to the door. She didn't realize how hungry she had been until she took a bite of the food. It actually wasn't bad either. She tried to ignore the fact that she was being watched but after a minute it was too much for her. "Can I help you with something?" she asked.

The man chuckled and walked over to Lanie's chair to take the handcuffs off. She didn't say anything but took a few more bites of the pizza. A few minutes more into the meal Lanie started to realize how tired she was, but attributed it to the fact that she had nothing else to focus on at the moment. A few more bites later though, she realized that the drowsiness she was feeling wasn't at all natural. Lanie looked down at the last bites of pizza that were left and then up at her captor in shock. She couldn't believe he had drugged her.

The man laughed even more as he saw that she realized what was going on. "No complaints about the food this time I see?" he opened the door and took a step out of it before turning back to his prisoner. "I'd try and make it to the bed before you pass out. Don't want to hurt yourself falling out of the chair."

And with that he was gone. Lanie tried to yell after him but found that her brain couldn't process what she wanted to say. It was all she could to do realize that he was right about making it to the bed. She tried to stand up, bracing herself on the table. Already her legs were heavy and she was losing feeling in her hands. She managed to take the couple of steps to the bed before crumpling as soon as she was next to it. She was having trouble seeing straight but managed to get into a fairly normal position on the bed. She realized her vision was tunneling and could only hope that when she woke up she was out of this place before everything went black.

Beckett pulled the van up to the curb a few houses in front of the surveillance van. "Wait here." She told Castle as she got out and went over to the van behind them. A few minutes later she was back with a map, a black marker and a walkie talkie. She leaned towards Castle and showed him the map. "Here is our area. There are 27 houses, three apartment buildings, a school and some small shops. We can rule out the apartments because there is too much risk of being seen. The rest of the team already ruled out nine of the houses."

Castle nodded as he tried to keep up. "So what do we do next?"

Beckett pointed to the top left of the area. "This is where we are now, the surveillance van has already done the three streets below us. Ryan and Esposito are down here," she pointed to the bottom right, "and are working their way up. That leaves the middle for us. We keep in touch with the other groups with the walkie. Got it?"

Castle nodded and they slowly pulled away and headed to the middle of the small map. They parked in the shadows at a spot they could see most of the street they were on. "So how are we eliminating houses?" Castle asked Beckett when she didn't say anything.

"Well see this house in front of us? There is a kids' bike in the front yard and you can see a swing set in the back. This guy was working alone, so we can rule out that house." She watched as Castle found where they were on the map and put an X over the house they had been looking at. "Good," she said. "Now what do you see about the house across the street from that one?"

Castle was surprised she was asking him, but assumed she wouldn't be doing so if she didn't already know the answer. He looked carefully and saw what she was talking about. "There is a couple eating dinner. Looks good too."

Beckett rolled her eyes but was impressed he had noticed it. "Right, couple eating a nice dinner doesn't exactly say I have someone hidden in my basement."

When they were done with the houses they could see clearly they moved to a different spot. Slowly but surely they managed to cross off most of the homes on their map, radioing into the other teams every few minutes. There were only a few houses that they left unmarked and would need to check later. They were making progress but the light was fading fast and they still had almost two blocks left to cover. The darker it got the harder it would be to rule some of the houses out and the more homes they would have to search later.

Castle noticed that the later it got the more and more tense Beckett was getting. For every house they couldn't cross off the map the shorter her answers to him got. He wished there was something he could do but at this point he realized that he was out of his element and knew enough to keep quiet and follow her lead.

Finally a few hours later there was a break. It was 10:30 pm when Beckett's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and was pleased to see it was Captain Montgomery. "Hello sir."

"The bastard you're looking for is Franklin Gunner."

"He matched the sketch we got?"

"He matches the sketch and the profile. Where are you guys? I'll come meet up with you now."

Beckett thought for a second. "We just have this street left and then we're done. We can meet you outside the perimeter, just in case he's watching."

"Sounds like a plan detective, see you soon."

Beckett hung up the phone and filled castle in. Then she radioed the other two teams to tell them the plan. As they were pulling away from where they had been parked Castle counted the unmarked houses on the map. "There are eleven houses we have to look into." He said. "Are we going to be able to do that tonight? Don't we need a search warrant or something?"

Beckett tensed up. "We have no choice but to do it all tonight Castle, even if it means waking people up. We're going to find her. And we don't need a search warrant to go to the door and ask a couple of questions. Now if anything seems suspicious after that we will. Unless he is the one who answers the door. Then we can take him."

Rick nodded and stayed silent for the rest of the short drive. They pulled out of the radius they had been searching and saw the captains' car parked down the street. Montgomery was standing on the street next to a squad car talking to the man inside. Beckett parked her car and they got out to go meet him.

He turned and saw them walking up with Ryan and Esposito getting out of their car. "Hey guys, I was just getting this guys' name and real picture out to the cars watching the perimeter. Just in case. How much were you able to narrow down?"

Beckett handed Montgomery her map. "27 houses and three apartment buildings in the area. We were able to cross out all but eleven of the houses." She looked at her partners and the both nodded almost imperceptibly. "All of us are ready to get going on these houses now."

The captain looked up from the map. "It's getting kind of late to do that tonight don't you think detective?"

"Sir the longer we wait the less time she has. We can do this tonight and get it over with."

"Beckett, there is no way you are doing this tonight. All of you have been going strong since way too early this morning. We can't afford for any of you to miss something and make a mistake."

Ryan took a step forward. "Sir she's right, we don't have any time to waste."

"Listen, we know she's in one of these eleven houses, we know what the guy looks like and I took the liberty of putting a hold on all of his bank accounts and credit cards. He isn't going anywhere and neither is Lanie."

Beckett spoke up again. "If we don't get to her in time he's going to-"

"If you don't go home and get some rest I'm demoting all of you back to beat cops. Whoever lives in those houses, we need them to cooperate. If we wake them up at 11 at night you think they are going to want to answer our questions? No, they are going to want to get rid of us. We will move the perimeter in a bit and keep an eye on everything. Now all four of you go home and get a few hours of sleep. We will be back here at 7am to search these houses. Is that understood?"

Beckett was fuming but saw resolve in the captains' eyes and knew it wouldn't do her any good to argue. She pursed her lips and spun around. Castle watched her stomp off to the car and figured he had better follow her quickly if he didn't want to take a taxi home. As soon as he was in the car with his seatbelt on she pulled away and headed for his apartment. She pulled up outside the front doors but didn't turn the car off. "Kate what's going on?" Castle asked warily.

"You're going home to get some sleep and I'm going back to the precinct to see if I can find anything out about these houses before the morning." She didn't look at him as she was saying this but kept staring straight ahead at the road in front of her.

Castle was shocked at her response. "I don't think so Kate. You heard what he captain said. Plus, if you're going to the precinct then so am I."

"Castle no. I need to do this." She looked at him and he noticed something strange in her eyes as she continued. "Castle I…I don't want you to come with me this time."

Castle stared at her as she turned her eyes back to looking out the windshield. He opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out. She didn't want him? She had told him to go home before, told him he couldn't go with her, that he didn't need to, but she had always relented. And she had never said she didn't want him. If it wasn't for the conviction he was sure he had seen in her eyes he would have thought she was just saying it. All he could do was nod and open the car door. "Ok." He looked at her for another second then got out of the car and shut the door behind him. He stood on the curb watching, hoping that the window would roll down and she would tell him she was sorry, to just get back in the car. But it didn't happen. Instead he watched as the blinker flipped on and the car slowly pulled away from his building. He didn't know what else to do but turn around and go upstairs. He could call her, but he knew she wouldn't pick up. She didn't want him with her, why would she? He was in a daze as he took the elevator up and fumbled with his keys to open his door. Luckily everyone else was asleep. Rick only made it as far as the couch before he had to sit down. _Think_ he told himself. _There has to be a rational explanation for this_. Maybe she just didn't want him to get in trouble if the captain found them there. Or maybe she wasn't actually going back to the precinct. He shook the negative thought from his head as he took his shoes off. He knew he wasn't going to get much sleep so he went into his office and closed the door behind him. He sat down in front of his computer and stared at the screen saver Alexis had put up. It flipped through a folder of pictures that was on his computer somewhere. He just sat watching as pictures from the past year popped up. Him and Alexis looking at colleges, his birthday, him, Alexis, Martha and Beckett on the trip to the zoo he had convinced them all to go on. He looked the most excited out of all of them as they were looking at the monkeys.

Kate took a deep breath and set in her mind what she was about to say before turning to the man sitting in the car next to her. "Castle I…I don't want you to come with me this time."

She watched as what she was saying hit him. It killed her to have to do this to him, but she knew she had to, for his own good. She turned back to the scene out the front windshield so she didn't keep looking at him. She knew if she saw what was written all over his face that she would change her mind. And she couldn't do that this time. She couldn't bear to bring him down with her, because she was going down and she knew it. She could feel herself spiraling out of control, and this wasn't a side of her she wanted Rick Castle to see.

Beckett heard the car door close and allowed herself to drop the façade she had put up. Her hands gripped the steering wheel a bit harder and she closed her eyes for a second, willing the emotion to stay inside and not burst out in the form of the hot tears she knew all too well. Just as quickly as she had let go, she regained her control and put her blinker on, merging into what little traffic was on the street. She looked in the rearview mirror to see Castle walking slowly up the steps to the front door of his building and wished that he was still in the car next to her.

A few minutes later she pulled up outside Lanie's house and parked the car. She didn't get out, just sat there and looked into the vacant windows. She brought her hand up to her mouth and began to chew on one of her nails. It was a habit she had kicked a long time ago, but it tended to surface when she was under a lot of stress. "I'm going to find you Lanie, I promise."

Kate blinked her eyes and turned the car back on. If she was going to find anything out about the eleven houses they had to search the next morning she had to get back to the precinct.

After taking the elevator up, he took her jacket off and hung it on the back of her chair as she went straight to the murder board. She brought the map that was hanging there up to date with the one in her hand and made a copy of Gunners' picture to replace the sketch. After admiring her handiwork she opened Franklin Gunner's file and read it silently. When she had read all she could she went over to her computer and turned it on.

As she was waiting for it to boot up she couldn't shake the nagging feeling in the back of her head that she had made a mistake telling Castle she didn't want him here. If anything she needed the comfort, but couldn't bear to have him see her like this. He had been with her in a lot of rough situations, and she had been there for him, but this was different. This was like she had just joined the force and had gone back to sleeping on the couch in the break room in order to spend as much time as possible going over her mothers' case. He was the one that had pulled her out of that funk, and she didn't want him to see her falling back into it because if this case. A case that she knew he felt partially to blame for.

The computer finished loading and she pulled up the program she was looking for. She made a list of the eleven addresses she wanted to look at and typed the first one into the search bar on her computer. It would take a few minutes for anything to come up so she went to the break room to get coffee.

Four of the addresses later she looked at the clock in the bottom corner of the computer screen. It was almost one in the morning. She grabbed another coffee and sat back down, sighing as she typed in the next address.

Castle looked over at the clock on the nightstand. It was almost one in the morning. He was still awake, lying in bed watching TV. He hated that he had let Beckett drive away. He should have said something, made her let him go with her. He shuddered as he thought about her sitting alone at her desk, or sleeping on the old couch in the break room, though he doubted she was sleeping. He spent another minute staring at the TV without really seeing anything before throwing the covers off and getting up. He wasn't going to let her sit there alone anymore. Maybe it was foolish but he didn't care if she wanted him there or not, he wasn't letting her to this by herself.

Beckett looked up in horror as she heard the elevator door open. When Castle stepped out her jaw dropped. She had half expected him to show up, but now that he had she didn't know what to say. She almost wanted to apologize for what she had said in the car, sure that her words had hurt him more than she had intended, but at the same time she was angry with him for showing up anyways. She stood up a little straighter, trying not to let it show how tired she was. "Castle, what are you doing here, I told you-"

He cut her off with "That program you're using, what does it do?"

She was caught off guard by his question, and the fact that he didn't look hurt or angry or anything, just curious. She didn't know what to do but answer him. "Umm, I'm looking to see who lives in the houses and if any of them have a record, or match the name of our guy."

Castle nodded. "And all you have to do is type in the address and then wait for something to pop up?"

"Or nothing pops up, if they don't have a record. So far no luck."

He nodded again and held out a large tote bag. Gesturing to the break room he said "Go on. I got this."

She was dumbfounded. "Castle what-"

He cut her off again and shook the bag a bit. "Here's a sheet to throw over the couch, a blanket, sweatpants and a change of clothes, a couple sandwiches and a soda. Go eat and get some sleep. I can handle this."

Her eyes grew wider and she took the bag, not really sure what else she could do. She started to say thank you but he didn't let her say anything.

"Kate…" he started, turning towards her. She saw a pained expression on his face and knew that he had been hurt by her words in the car, but was here anyways. Even though it was hurting him, he was still here with her. She watched as he raised a hand to her cheek and brushed his thumb across her skin. "Kate, let me do this for you. When are you going to learn that you don't have to do this alone? I'm not going anywhere, you can lean on me. Whatever it is that you don't want me to see, I can handle it. It's not going to make me run screaming."

She was caught off guard by his words and the tears that she had been holding back slipped out slowly. Before she knew it she had dropped the bag and closed the distance between them. Wrapping her hands in his shirt she let the tears come. She felt his arms wrap around her, holding her tight and it only made the tears come more freely. She had hurt him, she had told him she didn't want him, and he was still here, he was hurt but he was here. And she had never been more grateful in her life. He didn't say anything but let her cry on his shoulder, not minding at all that she was making a mess of his shirt. She hadn't wanted him to see this side of her, but she realized now that that had been a foolish thought. He had known she was hiding something, some part of her, and he had turned up anyways. She was amazed that after what she had said, and what he had figured out he was still here holding her and letting her cry all over him. She didn't say anything but simply held on to him tighter.

A little while later when Beckett had cried herself out she took a step back. Her and Castle stood in silence, looking at each other, not knowing what to say. Finally she broke the silence. "Sorry about your shirt."

Castle looked down at his rumpled shirt, covered in the detectives' tears. He looked back up at her and couldn't help but laugh.

"Castle what do you think you're laughing at?" Beckett said indignantly as she wiped her eyes.

Still laughing a little bit Rick replied. "After all of that, after everything this case has thrown at us and put us through…all you can say is 'sorry about your shirt'?"

Beckett chewed her bottom lip for a second and then started laughing as well. She took a step forward and put her arms around him one more time. "Thanks Castle. I'm glad you came back."

He pulled out of the embrace and picked up the bag she had thrown on the floor. "Here. I was serious, so get some sleep. I can take over here. If anything pops up I'll come get you."

Kate hesitated but finally took the bag and walked over to the break room. They were the only people in the building so before she turned the light on she stripped down and put on the sweatpants and the t-shirt she found in the bag. She threw the sheet over the couch and pulled the blanket out of the bag as well. After curling up and getting as comfortable as was possible on the couch she reached into the bag one more time and pulled out the sandwiches and the soda. She unwrapped the sandwich without bothering to look at what was in it. After finishing both of them and draining the can of soda she took one last glance out into the bullpen. Castle was sitting in the light of her desk, twirling a little bit in her chair and staring at the computer screen. She was glad he didn't seem to notice that he was being watched. She watched him for another second before lying down and pulling the blanket up around her. The last thought she remember having was that she didn't want to hide anything from him anymore.

**Reviews pleeeeeease? Pretty please with a cherry on top?**

**Also last night's episode…WOW. Luckily I was about to put my heart and brain together enough to post this today ;) **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 11**

Kate Beckett woke up to the sound of someone turning on the coffee machine. Her eyes fluttered open and she rolled over to see Castle setting a mug of coffee on the table in front of her. Next to it was a Styrofoam container that, from the smell of it, held some sort of breakfast food. She sat up and looked at Castle without saying anything. He looked back at her with a smile. "Morning detective."

Kate was still half asleep and didn't trust her brain to form a full sentence so she simply held out a hand in Castles' direction. He looked confused but stretched out his hand to meet hers. Once she had a grasp on his hand she pulled him down to sit next to her. He chuckled a bit as she reached for the mug and leaned back against him, taking a long drink. He let her finish her coffee in silence. When she was done he asked quietly "Feel better now?"

She turned so she was facing him and sitting cross legged. "mhmm" she said with a nod and a smile. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his for a second before reaching over for the container on the table. "Did you find anything last night?" she asked.

Castle was still looking at her, surprised by the sudden show of affection, but shook it off and answered. "Someone in two of the families ended up having parking tickets. But nothing worse than that." He changed subjects. "Are you ok? Last night was…rough. Were you able to get any sleep?"

She paused midway through taking a bite of her breakfast sandwich. "Yeah, I got a couple hours. Did you? Sleep at all I mean."

He smiled, not missing that fact that she only answered one of his questions. "You have a very comfortable chair."

She looked down at the food in her lap, feeling bad that he had gone the night without sleep because of her. "For what it's worth Castle, you didn't have to come back last night, and you really didn't have to say…but I'm glad that you did." She looked up to see him staring at her with a grin. She had to look away again before she said something really embarrassing. "What time is it anyway?"

"It's about 6am. I figured I could take you home so you could shower before we met up with everyone else at seven."

"I don't mind showering in the locker room, it's not that bad."

Before she realized what she had said Castle was already speaking. "You sound like you've done it quite a few times before."

She didn't meet his eyes as she got up and threw the empty container away and made another cup of coffee. "I work out here a lot," she said, which wasn't technically a lie.

"Kate…" Castle started to say, but she didn't let him finish the thought.

"You can have the couch while I go shower." She rummaged around in the bag he had brought the previous night and pulled out the change of clothes he had brought for her. "I'll be back in a bit."

Beckett trudged down to the locker room, thinking about the events that had taken place in the early hours of the morning. She stripped out of the sweatpants and t-shirt and turned the water on until it was steaming and stepped under the stream. She didn't have any soap with her, or shampoo either, but it was enough to stand under the hot water and let it rinse her body.

Kate ran her fingers through her hair as she remembered the rush of emotion she had felt at seeing Castle step off the elevator. Even then she had expected him to be upset with her, had expected him to tell her he was done, that he couldn't handle it anymore. She knew she pushed people away, she understood that she had been doing that to him the past couple of days, and was amazed when all he had done was give her the bag and tell her he would take over.

She kept telling herself she was afraid of him deciding he didn't want her, that she was afraid he would just walk away one day and leave her standing there, watching him go. They had been officially together for almost two months by this time, but the fear of sending him running for the hills was one of the reasons she was still dragging out the move to his apartment. She wanted to give him the chance to change his mind, because if she was being honest with herself, she had made hers up a long time ago. But who was she kidding? Even before they had gotten together he had been around longer than anyone she had shared a real relationship with.

She continued to stand under the streams of hot water as the realization slowly hit her that maybe, just maybe, Castle really was going to stick around. He had his childish moments, as always, but his actions over the past two months, and for a long time before that, all pointed to the fact that he was in it for the long haul. What if he was just waiting on her? It would be like him to wait for her to make the first move, to let her tell him how she felt first for fear of saying something and scaring her away. As she was realizing all of this she thought _what if I lov- _She shook her head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about these things. She had to focus on the case before she dealt with anything else.

She shut the water off and grabbed the towel she had taken from her locker. She dried off quickly and put on the change of clothes. She double checked her appearance in the small mirror to make sure it didn't look like she had spent the night on the couch. Checking the time on her phone, she was surprised to see that only fifteen minutes had gone by. She got back upstairs and opened the door to the break room to see that Castle had dozed off on the couch. She smiled and looked at her phone again. They still had ten minutes before they had to leave to meet the captain and the rest of the team, she might as well let him rest.

Beckett walked over to her computer and sat down. She wiggled the mouse and the screen came to live. The last search was still up but there was nothing there. She looked next to the keyboard and saw a notebook with Castle's familiar handwriting. There were a couple of names written down next to the list of houses she had made. Next to the names were simply written _speeding ticket_. She sighed and closed the notebook. They hadn't gotten anything. Kate sat for a minute in silence, letting her mind take over.

Castle felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and jumped awake. Luckily he had set an alarm for when they had to leave to meet the captain back at the perimeter. She shook his head to clear it of the sleep and looked around to find out where Beckett was. He saw her sitting at her desk, staring at the blank computer screen. He got up and walked over to her chair. He laid a hand on her shoulder and she jumped. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

She looked up at him and put on a smile. "It's ok, I was just…thinking."

"I figured. We need to get going."

She nodded and grabbed her jacket. Once in the car they stopped at a drive through for coffee, which they both accepted gratefully. They drove the entire way in silence. It was a comfortable sort of silence though. Kate felt that between the events of this case and the events of the previous night, or early morning, things had shifted between her and the man sitting to her right. She knew they would wait until the case was over before either of them said anything, but things were changing.

They pulled up behind the captain's car and Beckett turned the car off. The two of them got out and walked over to where Montgomery was leaning up against his car. "Morning detective, Castle." He said.

"Anything happen overnight?" Beckett asked.

"Nope, no sign of Gunner last night, and he hasn't tried to leave the area this morning either."

"He probably doesn't want to leave on the last da-" Castle was saying but stopped short at glares from both Beckett and the captain. He tried backtracking and saying "Kidnappers try not to leave their vic-" but the glares cut him off again. Luckily this time he was saved by Ryan and Esposito pulling up.

Both of them looked tired but ready to do whatever the morning called for. Beckett nodded to the both of them and turned back to Captain Montgomery. "So sir, how are we doing this? Eleven houses, five of us. We have no idea which one Lanie is being held in."

"Detective Beckett, this is still your case and I'm still letting you run it. I'm just here for backup and because it's one of our own we're looking for. So you tell me what we're doing."

Kate thought for a second then spread one of the maps out on the hood of the car. Everyone crowded around. "Right, I don't want us too far apart in case we have to act quickly. We only have five hours so we need to get this done as fast and efficient as possible." She pointed to two houses on the map that were fairly close together, but set apart from the other two. "These two are set apart. I saw we split up and try to eliminate those two, then we can pull the perimeter in so backup is closer if we need it."

Esposito and the captain nodded. "Sounds like a plan." Ryan said. They split up the teams so that Ryan and Esposito were going to one house and the captain was going with Castle and Beckett to the other.

The detective, the writer and the captain walked up the manicured front walk of the house they had chosen. Both Captain Montgomery and Castle let Beckett take the lead. The captain had insisted that all of them wear their vests, just in case. They didn't know for sure what house the kidnapper was in and the changes of him being armed were high.

Kate knocked on the door and they stood there waiting. A minute later a tall woman opened the door wearing the bottom half of a business suit and looking very much like she had been interrupted in the process of getting ready for work. "Can I help you officers?" she asked while putting on a pair of earrings.

Kate smiled. "Yeah, I'm detective Kate Beckett, this is Captain Montgomery and Richard Castle. We're with the NYPD and we were wondering if we could ask you a few questions about your neighbors."

The woman looked at her watch. "As long as you don't mind watching me make breakfast while we talk."

"Not at all."

The woman stood aside and held the door open a bit wider. "I'm Kelly by the way. Kelly Malone." She led them down a short hall to the kitchen where she gestured for them to sit down. "So what do you want to know?" she said as she pulled a couple of eggs out of the fridge. Castle noticed that she was looking at him funny and hoped that Beckett wouldn't catch on.

"Have you noticed anything strange or different about any of your neighbors in the past few days?" Montgomery asked.

The woman had been staring at Rick again and seemed not to have heard the question. "Hmm?"

Great, Castle thought. As much as he liked meeting a fan, now was really not the time. Everyone was strained enough as it was and he knew Beckett wouldn't be happy with any distractions. His sleep deprived mind took off. what if the captain thought his fame would be a problem in future cases? What if he wasn't allowed at the precinct anymore? Rick managed to shake off the thoughts and turn to Beckett. He saw her face change almost imperceptibly, becoming just a little bit harder. Oh goody, he thought. Here we go.

"He asked if you had noticed anything different about any of your neighbors recently. Maybe people coming or going at odd hours." Beckett said.

Kelly poured the scrambled egg mixture onto a skillet and picked up a spatula. "Not that I can think of. There was some yelling from the house across the street the other night, but it happens once in a while, they're college students." She stopped poking the eggs around the pan and turned to the writer. "You're _the_ Richard Castle right? I recognize you from the back cover of your books."

The captain smirked and raised an eyebrow, interested to see how the duo would handle this particular roadblock.

"Yes, I am," Rick said. He glanced over at Beckett and from the look on her face he had about three seconds to change the subject. He turned back to the woman staring at him. "What about any new neighbors? Anyone move in or out recently?"

Kelly stared at him for another minute before saying anything. "Will you sign my copy of Heat Wave?" she turned to Beckett. "You too detective, you are Nikki Heat after all, aren't you?"

The captain stifled a laugh as Beckett closed her eyes for a second to keep herself in check. Castle couldn't help himself and spoke up. "Ms. Malone you had better answer the question, she gets grumpy when people get off track."

When Beckett opened her eyes and spoke her voice was slightly strained. "Unfortunately right now Ms. Malone we are on a very urgent time schedule, please answer the question."

Kelly managed to pull her eyes away from the writer, only to fix them on the detective with a slightly cold expression. She moved the eggs around some more, turning the stove down. "No, the last time someone moved in or out was over a year ago. Are you sure I can't get an autograph? It would only take a second."

Captain Montgomery spoke up before Beckett could say anything. "Ma'am, I really don't think you want to be charged with obstruction of justice, so please just stick to answering the questions. Now what about any vacant houses nor anything like that?"

Kelly dished her eggs onto a plate and stood behind the counter eating them, "I'm friends with Tammy and Joe Marsh. They live a couple streets over and they just went on vacation to Disney World with their daughter. They were going to be gone for about a week." As soon as she was done speaking, Ms. Malone turned her attention back to Castle. This time though she didn't say anything, just watched him quietly.

Beckett glanced over to where he was sitting to make sure that he wasn't encouraging her. When she saw that the writer was just sitting there focusing on a spot on the far wall she turned back to the woman staring at him. She couldn't help but feel a slight pang of jealousy. She should be the only one allowed to look at him like that. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and pulled out the picture of Franklin Gunner. "Do you recognize this man at all?"

Ms. Malone reached over the counter and took the picture, studying it for a second. "No, he doesn't look familiar. What's his name?"

"Franklin Gunner."

She shook her head. "No doesn't ring a bell." Kelly handed the picture back and took another big bite of her eggs, clearing the plate and putting it in the sink. "Sorry I couldn't be more help. Now if we're all done I really have to get to work."

A couple of minutes later the three were back at the car. Beckett pulled out her phone and dialed Esposito's number while Castle pulled out the map of the neighborhood. "Hey Esposito. We're done here. Did you get anything?"

"Nope, meet you back at the perimeter?"

"Yeah and we can…" Becketts' voice trailed off as she saw Castle start waiving the map at her and the captain. Montgomery was at his side in a second, looking at the map over his shoulder.

"Esposito I'm going to call you back." She finished and hung up without waiting for a response. "Castle what's going on?"

He looked up and pointed to a spot on the map. "The address Kelly Malone gave us as where her friends on vacation live is crossed off."

"So?" Captain Montgomery asked.

Castle looked at Beckett as he spoke to make sure she understood. "So why is it crossed off if its empty?"

Beckett grabbed the map and looked at the house in question. "Wait a second, we checked this street. That house…" she stopped talking for a second as she concentrated on remembering the previous night through a haze of stress and sleep deprivation. "That house had a light on in one of the front windows and you could see kids toys and stuffed animals in the window with pink curtains. The car in the driveway was all beat up too, definitely not a rental."

The captain perked up. It wasn't often that he got out in the field but he hadn't lost any of his skill. "It looks like we found where he's been keeping her." He said as he pulled out his radio. "Be advised, we have a target location. All officers be alert. Pull the perimeter in to 57 Hudson Ave, but stay out of sight. I'm going in with Beckett and her team. Everyone else be ready to move." He turned back to Beckett. "Are you sure you're up to this detective?"

Kate stood up just a little bit taller and looked the captain in the eyes. "Yes sir, I'm ready. We'll get her out."

Montgomery nodded and turned to the writer, who was standing as close as he could to Beckett without actually touching her.

Castle seemed able to predict what he captain was going to say and spoke first. "Captain Montgomery, sir, I'm going in there with the team."

"Castle, I'm sorry. As glad as I am that you and Beckett got together I can't have your feelings for each other get in the way of this one. You'll both be worried about the other getting hurt and the stakes are too high to risk that."

"With all due respect sir, it's not because I'm worried about Beckett, or any of them. They can all handle themselves perfectly fine."

Kate smiled a little bit at what she knew was a compliment, but stayed quiet. His facial expression said that what came out next was hard for him to say.

"This team is the closest thing I've ever had to real friends, and I'm not going to let them down now. I'll stay behind them, I'll keep quiet and I'll wait until the clear the room. Whatever it takes, I'll do it, but I can't handle sitting out here waiting, not knowing what's going on in there, not knowing if someone is hurt or if there's something I could be doing."

The captain looked over at Beckett to see if he could glean anything from her expression, but she was carefully looking as if she wasn't paying attention and doing something on her phone. She looked up as a thought hit her. "I thought of something else I want to ask Kelly, I'll be right back." she said as she dashed back up to the house they had just come from.

A second later Ryan and Esposito pulled up in their car. They both got out and walked over to where Castle and Montgomery were standing. "So are you going to tell us what's going on now?" Ryan asked.

The captain began filling them in on how the interview had gone and how Castle had pointed out that the house of the family on vacation had been crossed off because the lights had been on.

"So what now?" Esposito said, looking at his watch. "It's just after eight. So we have a little bit of time."

Beckett shook her head as she walked back up to where they were standing. "No, I don't want to waste any time. We need to get her out of there as soon as possible. Captain can we get one of the cars to come in? I want a couple of officers to go around back in case he tries to run. You and Ryan can each take one side of the house while Esposito, Castle and I go in the front." The captain nodded and Kate turned to Castle. "The captain was right earlier, we can't take any risks with this. You put on your vest and you take my back up gun. And you stay behind me and Esposito at all times, no matter what. Either one of us give you an order and you follow it, no questions asked. Even if we tell you to get out I expect you to do it understood?"

Castle looked at her for a second. He took in the gleam in her eyes that told him this is what she was born for. He could sense the adrenaline pumping through her veins. She was in charge now and he knew that at this point not even the captain would question anything she said. He nodded. "Sure thing detective."

She looked over as a cruiser pulled up and two officers got out and walked over to where they were standing. "What have we got detective Beckett?" officer Porter asked.

Beckett had been looking down at her phone again, but she looked up when the officer addressed her. Officers Adrian Porter and Chris Lyons had been on the force for a number of years and were experienced officers. Kate found herself pleased with the captain's choice of backup. "Officers Porter, Lyons. We think we found where Lanie is being held. The man that kidnapped her is named Franklin Gunner, nicknamed Gun when he was in jail." She handed over Gunners' file and the map with 57 Hudson Ave circled in red marker. "That's the house. Captain Montgomery is going to take one side and Detective Ryan the other. I need you two to go around and cover the back while Esposito, Castle and I take the front." She tapped the screen on her phone and turned it around for everyone to see. "These are the blueprints for the house. Most likely place she's being held is this room." Kate tapped the screen again and the picture zoomed in to a small room off of what looked like the living room. "it doesn't have any windows and only one door out. The house is only one floor."

Rick couldn't help but play devil's advocate. "And what happens to Lanie when we come busting in yelling NYPD? I doubt he plans on being very diplomatic."

The captain raised an eyebrow and turned to Beckett. "He has a point detective. You have a plan?"

Kate chewed her lip for a second before speaking. "I do sir, but it's not exactly by the book."

Ryan and Esposito looked from Beckett to the captain questioningly. It was obvious that they had no clue what Beckett was thinking. Castle quickly hid a grin as he realized, not for the first time, how much he had rubbed off on her. Montgomery narrowed his eyes for a second before sighing and saying "whatever you have to do to get her out, but this had better not be anything stupid."

"Well sir, you know how I ran back up to the house after the interview with Kelly Malone?" She reached into her pocket, as Montgomery nodded, and pulled out a small silver key. "I asked Ms. Malone if she had a key to her friends' house." Kate put the key back into her pocket and pulled out her phone again. She tapped the screen a couple of times and turned it around again to show everyone. "This is a diagram of where the cable lines are in the house. Notice anything?"

The six men that had crowded around the small display looked closely. After a minute officer Porter spoke up. "There are no phone lines around that room."

Castle looked up from the phone. "So?"

Beckett rolled her eyes. "So if I can get the blueprints and cable lines I'm pretty sure I can get a phone number. If we can get eyes on him without being seen then we can call the house and hope he goes to check the caller ID."

Ryan caught on. "And if we can get him to the other side of the house we might be able to at least get in the house before he realizes we're there."

"Didn't I just say nothing stupid?" Montgomery said.

Esposito turned to the captain. "It's our only chance. We don't have anything else right now and we're running out of time."

Captain Montgomery thought for a second then nodded. "Ok guys, you heard her. All the patrol cars are in place, if he gets out of the house he's not getting far. Porter, Lyons, you go around back and stay down and out of sight. Ryan, I'll take the left, you take the right. We are leaving the cars here and getting there on foot. That will cut the risk of being seen down and it's only two streets up. Take different routes there and once we get close maintain radio silence."

Beckett nodded. "When we get across the street I'll make the call. He knows my number so maybe he will pick up and I can buy us a little bit of extra time. All of you ready?" she said looking around her, letting her gaze linger last on Castle. She handed him her back up and he nodded. "Good, let's go."

**Ok I know I've said this before but I'm on a roll here. Next chapter will be up soon I PROMISE hehe. Hope you liked this chapter :p reviews please?**


	13. Chapter 13

**`Chapter 12**

The two officers, three detectives, one captain and one writer all made their way silently, and on different routes to 57 Hudson Ave. Ryan and the captain split up and came at it from either side. Officers Porter and Lyons took a longer way around and came up behind the house, making sure to stay behind the line of bushes that separated the yards. Beckett, Esposito, and Castle came at the house from a little off to one side, making sure to stay out of view of any of the windows.

Once they were all in position Beckett pressed the button on her radio. "Ok, I'm going to dial the house now, everyone wait for my signal before doing anything. We need him to take this bait. Officers Lyons and Porter, the room we are trying to get to is closer to the back of the house so I'm counting on you guys to get in there and cover the door. Do you copy?"

She got an affirmative from the two officers and pulled out her cell phone, making sure to keep the gun in one hand. Slowly Beckett dialed the number, keeping an eye on the windows she could see from where her, Esposito and Castle were crouched behind a car. She looked to her left to see that Captain Montgomery had made his way to the small strip of land in between number 57 and the house next to it. To her right Ryan was crouched behind a large trash bin on the sidewalk. She could only hope that the two officers in the back were still hidden. Seeing as they were closest to the target room she had entrusted them with the key.

Kate put the phone up to her ear and listened as it rang once. She peered through the windows of the SUV they were crouching behind, paying close attention to the windows of number 57. The phone rang a second time. All of a sudden Franklin Gunner appeared in the front window. Without hesitation Kate pressed the button on her radio. "Porter, Lyons, he's by the phone now you guys are clear." She got an affirmative answer as the phone was ringing a third time. Beckett, Castle and Esposito watched as the man in the window picked up the phone.

"Why detective Beckett, I see you've been doing your homework."

"Oh I certainly have Mr. Gunner. Or can I call you Frank?"

Esposito and Castle grinned and shared a feed the birds as the man they were watching froze at the use of his name. But Gunner barely hesitated in his speech. "Whichever you prefer detective, it won't make much difference anyways."

Beckett knew that they had to get closer to the house. Her only chance was to keep him distracted. She kept talking as she motioned for Ryan to get a little closer to the house. "What makes you say that?"

She heard the voice on the other line chuckle and watched as Gunner paced the room, repeatedly turning his back to the window. Beckett motioned for Esposito and Castle to follow her. "Because Kate, even if you know where I am, I'm watching the front door and the back door is-" he was cut off as a small explosion went off in the back of the house.

Kate looked in horror at the smoke rising from the back yard. She looked at each member of the team in turn. Beckett nodded to the captain and Ryan and then she surged forward with Esposito and Castle close behind her. Beckett and the two men behind her made it to the front door in a matter of seconds. The Captain and Ryan were at the back door just a second later.

Kate stood back a step then kicked the door in, wood splintering everywhere with the force of the blow. They ran into the front room to see Frank Gunner standing there laughing amidst the smoke. When he saw Beckett he stopped laughing and took off for the back of the house. The two detectives and Castle followed him, only to stop dead when they turned a corner.

Officers Porter and Lyons were lying on the ground where the back door used to be. There was a hole in the wall at least twice the size of the door and the edges were still smoldering. Beckett forgot where they were for a second and lowered her gun. She barely registered the fact that Gunner was opening a door next to her as she watched Ryan check for a pulse in the two officers. He looked up at her and nodded. "They both have a pulse, an ambulance is on the way."

"Along with backup." The captain added.

Esposito seemed the only one that kept his head. He could hear yelling from the room behind the door Gunner was trying to get open. "Gunner if I was you I'd step away from that door."

"What are you going to do Javier Esposito? Shoot me?"

"Yeah I'm thinking about it."

The voices seemed to bring Beckett back to reality. Making sure Castle was still behind her she spun around and raised her gun again, just in time to see Gunner open the door and disappear into the room behind it. She took a step closer and entered the room, followed by the team. As much as Castle didn't like it he waited until everyone else was in before glancing back at the two officers on the ground and stepping into the room behind the captain. He watched as all four of them fanned out on either side of the door. They all stared in horror as Gunner pulled Lanie up from the chair she was still handcuffed to. The chair dragged one arm down but he held on to her, using her as a shield. Pulling out a gun he pointed it at her temple.

"Let her go Gunner!" Esposito yelled.

"Why would I do that detective? You're just going to shoot me."

"It doesn't have to end like that." Beckett said. "Just let her go and you'll get a fair trial."

Franklin tightened his grip on the medical examiner as she squirmed. When he spoke this time his voice betrayed the fact that he was on the verge of losing it. "That's not how this game ends detective Beckett. Someone has to die."

"Well it's not going to be any of us. And it certainly isn't going to be Lanie."

Gunner smiled. "Well those two officers are as good as gone. The back door was rigged to blow up when it was opened. It looks like it did its job."

Captain Montgomery spoke up. "Those officers are hurt but they're going to be fine. Help is on the way now, along with a whole lot more officers. You can't get out of this now."

The man holding onto Lanie looked around frantically. Suddenly sirens could be heard in the distance, getting closer. He knew he had to make a choice. He shoved Lanie aside, not even noticing when she fell over the chair and didn't get up. He was breathing heavily as he turned and pointed the gun at the people standing before him. He was staring from person to person, not sure which detective to point his gun at. "You can't have me, I'm not going without a fight detectives, you should know that."

Four pairs of eyes watched as Lanie was thrown aside. They all noticed as she fell over and didn't get up. Four pairs of eyes turned menacingly back to the man standing before them. Franklin Gunner pointed his gun at Esposito as the detective spoke. "If it's a fight you want then you got it."

Beckett could tell that her partner was about to make a bad decision. "Detective Esposito, stand down!" she yelled.

Esposito kept his gun pointed directly at the man in front of him. "Are you nuts? Look at what this guy has done to her. You expect me to just let him go?"

"Esposito this is not how we are going to handle this situation."

Gunner laughed out loud and turned so he was point his gun at Beckett now. "You should have let him take me down Katherine." There was a split second pause and two shots rang out at the same time.

Kate watched as the gun that had been trained on Esposito turned on her. In the second it took the man to move, the air in the room had shifted. She knew she only had a second to make a decision and when she haw Gunner's hand tense up she knew what she had to do. She tilted her gun down just a hair and pulled the trigger at the same time she heard another shot go off. She didn't have time to look up and see where it was coming from but all of a sudden there was a searing pain in her shoulder and she was thrown back into the door frame. Beckett couldn't help but crying out as the air was knocked out of her.

Everyone in the room watched in horror as Franklin Gunner turned his gun to Beckett and pulled the trigger. Beckett's gun went off at the same time and Gunner went down with a hole in his upper thigh. Ryan ran over and kicked the gun away from him. The second they realized Gunner was down they heard Beckett cry out. They all turned to see her hit the wall and slide down, leaving a trail of red as she went.

"Beckett!" Castle yelled. The captain had to put his arm across the door way to keep Castle out of the room. Rick fought against the arm holding him back but the captain was stronger. Rick had no choice but to watch as Esposito ran over to where Lanie was finally stirring. Ryan was standing in the middle of the room, calling for another ambulance and yelling officer down.

For Castle time had seemed to stop as he heard the shots go off. All he could think was _Thank god she had her vest on_ but then he heard her cry out and saw her fall down. _Oh god, _he thought. _No, this can't happen. Not to her. _He yelled her name and pitched himself forward, only to be stopped by a strong arm in his way. He vaguely heard a voice telling him to stay where he was but he didn't understand it. His vision had tunneled so all he could see was her. All he could see was her face contorted in pain and the pool of red that was slowly growing. He had to get to her. He saw the captain move to check on Lanie and Castle raced to Beckett's side.

He fell to the ground and grabbed one of her hands while his other hand moved up to her cheek, pushing a lock of hair out of her face. He didn't care that she would normally smack him for the public display of affection. All of that had gone out the window the second she had been hit. "Kate, honey, you're going to be ok Kate, everything's going to be fine."

Her breathing was getting shorter and coming in gasps. "Ca-Castle? What happened?"

He noticed she was getting pale and starting to shake. "Shhh Kate, it's ok. Just stay with me ok? Stay with me and it will be ok." He turned around and yelled at no one in particular. "Where is the damn ambulance?" Looking back at the woman lying in front of him he tried to figure out what he could do to help. He tore off his jacket and balled it up, pressing it to the hole in her shoulder that was still letting blood pour out. God there was so much blood. Why wasn't it stopping?

Kate watched from her spot on the floor as Esposito ran over to Lanie. She tried to keep her head up but the pain in her shoulder was making it hard. She felt a warmth spreading and looked down to see blood coving her entire left side. She closed her eyes as the pain got worse. She opened them and tried to figure out what was going on around her but her vision was swimming. She had been shot, she knew that much. She closed her eyes and tried to will the pain in her shoulder away. Everything was getting hazy. _Where am I?_ She thought. _What happened? What were we- Lanie…what happened to Lanie?_ Kate felt someone grab her hand and brush her hair out of her face. She opened her eyes yet again but there were clouds floating through her field of vision. She recognized the voice at once though. "Ca-Castle?" she tried to ask him what was going on but he stopped her, told her that it was going to be ok. She heard him say 'stay with me' and wondered how bad her shoulder was. She knew there was a lot of blood but the pain was already going way. She couldn't tell if that was a good sign or a bad one. Kate tried to remember her training, what to do if you got shot, but she couldn't seem to pull a single thought out of her head. Rick kept talking to her but his voice was fading away. _No,_ she thought. _You need to stay with him. You can't leave him yet. You haven't told him…just stay awake._ She kept telling herself to focus on the sound of Castle's voice. She tried to tell him to stay next to her and keep talking but she wasn't sure if he understood her.

Castle watch as the medics ran in to the room and got Kate on a stretcher. A second before they had showed up he had watched as Kate tried to reach out to him and tell him not to leave her. She had mumbled something about his voice. He followed the stretcher through the house and out the front door, which was still swinging off its hinges. He was followed by the captain and Ryan. Esposito and Lanie were already out with another one of the medics.

"Castle, she's going to be fine. She's strong, she'll pull through." Ryan said.

"You go with her Rick." Said Captain Montgomery. "Esposito is going to stay with Lanie. She looks fine so he's going to take her back to his place for the night. Ryan and I will stay here and deal with the paperwork. She needs you right now. Just call us the second you know anything."

Castle looked at the two men standing in front of him. The level of concern in their eyes was touching, and he knew it wasn't just Kate they were worried about. He wasn't quite sure what his face looked like but he knew he wasn't even close to having his emotions hidden. He nodded and climbed into the back of the ambulance. The medic that was back there with him didn't look pleased but the captain had convinced him to let Castle ride.

The second Rick was next to Kate again he reached out for her hand. This time she didn't squeeze his hand back and he could feel her strength leaving her. As he continued to talk to her, saying whatever soothing phrases popped into his head he kept trying to convince himself that she would be fine, that she was the strongest person he knew. But the little voice in the back of his head told him that even the strongest people have to fall sometimes. She had lost a lot of blood and she was getting even paler. The shaking had become worse and he was worried she was going into shock. He shoved all of those thoughts to the back of his mind and concentrated on the feel of her hand in his, the fact that as weak as she was she was still with him. As the sirens started screaming and the ambulance pulled away he looked out of the small window in the back doors. They were pulling away fast but he managed to catch a glimpse of Montgomery, Ryan, Esposito and Lanie staring after the vehicle in shock. Lanie was crying and Esposito had his arm around her. The last thing Castle registered about the scene was the flashing red and blue lights, blurring out everything else. There was a sound beside him and he felt Kate squeeze his hand. She had somehow managed to stay conscious the entire time, and he knew it couldn't last much longer. He looked down to see her eyelids fluttering open, checking to see if he was still there. He looked up at the paramedic.

The man looked down at the woman on the stretcher. "She's strong, not many people stay conscious this long after getting shot." He paused and gave Castle a strange look. "If she's staying awake for you…It would almost be better if she let herself pass out. Save some of her strength. She…she's going to need it the next few hours."

Rick nodded, thankful for the mans' honesty. He looked back down at the green eyes that were still searching for him, as if they couldn't focus on anything around them. He smiled at her. "It's ok Kate, I'm still here. I'm not leaving you, no matter what." He paused and looked back at the paramedic before continuing. "It's ok to fall asleep Kate." She got a slightly panicked look on her face and he reached over to stroke he hair. "I won't let them take you away from me, I'll still be here when you wake up. I promise. But you still have a hard fight ahead of you, you need to save your strength."

She seemed to be contemplating his words, trying to make sense of them. He only hoped that she understood him through the haze he knew was enveloping her. Finally she nodded once and closed her eyes again. A second later the hand he was holding went limp. He looked up at the monitors that she was hooked up to. They all indicated she was still breathing and while her pulse was irregular it was still there. Rick managed to contain the swell of panic that had risen within him. He turned back to the woman lying in front of him. He couldn't believe this had happened. For the rest of the ride he focused on taking deep breaths as he watched Kate Becketts' chest rise and fall erratically. Everything was going to be ok…it had to be ok. Because he didn't know what he would do without her.

**Well there you go. I had this chapter (and the shooting) planned for a while before the finale (I swear!) I just didn't get it written before then. I really tried to not have the characters reactions be the same as the finale and I hope I did alright with it. Castle's reaction was the hardest. Anyways. I hope you guys liked this chapter. Reviews please?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 13**

**OK, this chapter jumps around to different points of view quite a bit, but hopefully I set it up well enough so you can all still tell whats going on also the timeline has been updated as well for those interested. ENJOY :p**

Kate was vaguely aware of being lifted onto a stretcher and carried out of the house. She felt the cool morning air on her face a second later and closed her eyes, letting breeze blow over her. _God that feels good, _she thought, but she didn't remember getting so hot. Suddenly she felt Castle's hand leave hers and stretched her hand out to find it again. She tried to form a sentence to ask where he was and what was going on but couldn't think of what words to use. Her mind barely registered being lifted into the back of an ambulance. All she wanted was to hear Rick's voice again, and feel the soothing motions of his fingers on hers. The paramedic was trying to tell her to calm down, that she shouldn't strain herself.

Then his voice was close again, somewhere to her right. She relaxed a little bit as he kept talking. Kate caught bits and pieces of what he was saying but it was getting harder to hear through the thick fog that seemed to be developing in the back of the ambulance. She knew he kept saying her name, and that was all she needed. Kate had always loved the way he said it and tried to focus on that. As long as she could hear him saying her name she could stay awake, she could stay with him. Beckett didn't know what was going to happen if she let herself fall asleep and she didn't want to find out.

Another voice began talking and Beckett figured it must be the paramedic. She wanted to ask what he was saying but her mouth didn't seem to be working. She looked over at Castle to see if she could get anything out of his expression, but when she turned her head he was simply staring at her. His eyes seemed to break through the fog that was threatening to overcome her. The smile that almost, but not quite, reached his eyes told her that he was trying not to show how worried he was.

The next time he spoke she could actually make out the words. . "It's ok Kate, I'm still here. I'm not leaving you, no matter what." There was a pause before he continued while stroking her hair. "It's ok to fall asleep Kate. I won't let them take you away from me, I'll still be here when you wake up. I promise. But you still have a hard fight ahead of you, you need to save your strength."

She took a second to let her mind process the words, but after only a short hesitation she understood that he was going to do everything in his power to keep the promise he had just made. She managed to nod her head as everything got hazy again. The last thing she saw was a look of relief on Ricks face before everything went quiet and black.

Castle jumped out of the ambulance, only a second behind the stretcher carrying Kate. He promised her that he wouldn't leave her and he had every intention of keeping that promise. The second they were through the doors of the hospital everyone sprang into action. The stretcher was surrounded by nurses, who transferred her onto a hospital bed and began wheeling her towards an operating room at the other end of a hallway.

One nurse turned around to face Castle, who had started to follow the rolling bed. "Sir I'm afraid it's staff only past that set of doors, there is a waiting room right around the corner if you want to wait-" she was cut off by Castle brushing past her as if he hadn't heard a word she had said.

"Sir!" she called after him. "You can't go down there!"

Castle barely heard the woman who was standing in front of him talking. All he could think was that Kate was getting away. He couldn't let her go. He strode past the nurse and headed after the wounded detective. She had just been pushed through the doors and he was almost there when two sets of strong arms grabbed him from behind. "No!" he yelled. "I have to follow her!"

"Sir I'm sorry but if you can't calm down right now we are going to have to escort you from the hospital." One of the security guards said.

Castle stopped fighting as much but didn't lower his voice. "I need to see her. I have to be in there with her!"

The other security guard jerked one of Ricks arms behind his back and it seemed to calm Castle down. "Sir you need to lower your voice. Yelling won't help her."

The next thing Kates mind registered was being rushed down a brightly lit hallway by a bunch of nurses that seemed to be yelling for security. She tried to look around and saw Castle jogging to keep up with them. He had a determined look on his face that she knew all too well.

A second later she was being pushed through a set of doors and Castle was trapped on the other side with two beefy-looking security guards holding him back. By the look of it he was giving them a good work out.

She wanted to tell the doctors to let him through, but her brain somehow managed to connect being in a hospital with going into surgery and she knew he couldn't be there for that. Instead she tried to find him behind the doors. She wanted to let him know she was going to be ok, that she would be out soon. She had stopped moving but when she looked around the doors were too far away. She tried to sit up and pain shot through her shoulder making her cry out again and fall back. She was about to form the words to tell the doctors she wanted to see Castle before she went into surgery but the new shocks of pain were washing over her and drowning out everything else. Suddenly someone put a small mask over her nose and mouth and the quiet blackness overtook her once more.

Castle still strained against the arms holding him back, but was quickly realizing this was a fight he was going to lose. "I have to see her, I can't let her go in there alone, I…I promised…" As he mentioned his promise all the energy seemed to leave his body at once. The past three days caught up with him all at once and he sank to the floor, focusing all his remaining will power on breathing. His knees came up towards his chest and he hid his face in his hands. Rick Castle didn't care that he probably looked like an idiot, he didn't care that there were hot tears falling down his cheeks. All he cared about was the woman behind that set of double doors, the woman that he was head over heels in love with. Kate, his beautiful Kate, had been…he couldn't even think the word. _Shot._

Castle looked up. The security guards were still standing in front of him. Not sure if he was safe to leave alone now or if he was going to try and follow a woman on the stretcher again. "It's ok," Rick said. "I'll go to the waiting area. I just…" his voice trailed off as he realized he didn't know what he was about to say.

The security guard that had spoken to him first nodded in understanding. "Listen guy, we'll be at the end of the hallway. You can…sit here for a few minutes but you're going to have to move to the waiting area."

Rick tried to smile up at the man but knew he wasn't fooling anyone. "Thanks." He watched as the two men in uniform marched to the end of the hallway. He stayed where he was for a few more minutes, working up the energy to get up. Finally he managed to wipe his eyes and stand up, though his legs seemed barely able to hold his weight. As he sat down in one of the waiting room chairs he sent a text to everyone on the team, along with his mother and Alexis to let them know what hospital they were at and what was going on. A second later Castle realized that he was going to have to call Jim Beckett and tell him what had happened. He pulled out his phone and slowly scrolled down the list of his contacts until he found the one he wanted. His finger hovered over the touch screen for a second as he ran his fingers through his hair, dreading what he was about to do.

He hit the button and brought the phone to his ear as he lowered his head. The older man picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hey Jim, it's Rick Castle."

"Hey Rick, what's going on?" Jim said warily. The two men were on good terms but they didn't talk on the phone for no reason.

"Jim…" Castle paused, not sure how to say when he knew needed to be said. It was probably best not to beat around the bush. "Kate's in the hospital."

The man on the other line took a slow, deep breath. "What happened? Is she going to be ok?"

"Lanie was kidnapped two days ago. We found her this morning, and went in with backup. Esposito was…out of control and Kate stopped him. The guy turned his gun on her and shot. She was wearing her vest but he hit her in the shoulder."

Castle could hear Jim continuing to take deep breaths. "What…what does that mean? How bad is it?"

Rick wracked his brain for everything he knew about gunshot wounds. "Shoulder wounds usually aren't bad, as far as gunshot wounds go, but she was confused and shaking. She was conscious until shortly after we got her into the ambulance. The paramedic said it was a good thing she's as strong as she is…that she would need it in the next few hours. She lost a lot of blood." There was silence on both ends for what seemed like ages. Castle was the one to break it. "They took her into surgery a few minutes ago. I'm sorry Jim, I…"

"Castle, this isn't your fault. She's a fighter, everything…everything will be alright. Thank you for letting me know so soon. I'll be there as soon as I can. You shouldn't have to wait alone."

Castle was going to protest but decided against it. "I'll see you soon Jim." He said as he hung up the phone and let it fall into his lap as he leaned back. The chances of Beckett being in surgery for a while were high and from the scene he had caused he could tell all the nurses knew who he was waiting on. Rick knew he should rest a little bit, but he didn't think he could bring himself to let go like he had urged Kate to do just a few minutes before. He couldn't even keep his eyes closed for long before he started replaying the scene from back at the house. _Two gunshots going off…her cry of pain…the trail of red as she slid down the wall. _He shook his head and opened his eyes, trying to focus on something that would distract him. It didn't work and the video in his mind kept going. _Her ragged breathing…the frantic, but far away look in her eyes as she tried to tell him to stay with her._

He turned his eyes to the wallpaper across the room and set to work memorizing the patter. It seemed to work but shortly after he started, his mind got bored and drifted to where Kate way lying, unconscious, in an operating room. He tried to find something else to focus on. 15 minutes later he fell asleep with his head tilted back, trying to count the dots on the ceiling tiles.

Jim Beckett was sitting on his couch reading the newspaper when his phone rang. He picked it up from its place on a table next to the couch. "Hello?"

"Hey Jim, it's Rick Castle."

Jim immediately straightened up as different, mostly macabre, scenarios started running through his head. He liked the writer a lot, and knew how good he was for Kate, but he didn't think they had ever talked on the phone. Why was he calling unless…he made himself stop and took a deep breath. "Hey Rick, What's going on?" he said, hoping that his words didn't betray his emotions too much. But then he heard what he had been dreading since the day his daughter had become a cop.

"Jim…Kate's in the hospital."

The older man took another slow, steadying breath and asked what had happened. He listened at Castle told him how Lanie had been kidnapped and Beckett had been shot in the process of apprehending the man responsible. He trusted the writer to tell him the truth about how bad things were and listened while he was told about shoulder wounds. He thought he was handling it well until he heard that she had lost a lot of blood. Both men had stopped talking and there was silence. Jim wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. He knew that Rick would have as hard a time dealing with this as he would, and he wished he could offer some sort of solace.

However it was the writer that spoke first. "They took her into surgery a few minutes ago. I'm sorry Jim, I…"

He told Rick that it wasn't his fault, that she would be ok, and only hoped that he would believe him. He knew she was a fighter, that she would make it through. She had always been the strongest person he knew. He stayed where he was on the couch, letting the information sink in. Ever since Kate had joined the academy Jim had had nightmares about her meeting the same fate as her mother. To know that his dreams might become reality in the next few hours, it was almost crippling. He told himself multiple times that he had to get up, and go to the hospital, but his legs wouldn't move.

After what seemed like hours he managed to stand up. He kept telling himself that she was strong, that she had such a passion for life, and for her job, that nothing, not even getting shot, would keep her from it. She was going to pull through, she had to. He grabbed his coat and his keys and closed the door behind him. He knew there was nothing he could do, though he hoped his presence would bring at least a slight amount of comfort to the writer, to the man that had done so much for Kate. He also knew that for the next few hours at least, everything was simply a waiting game.

**Well there ya go. Hopefully you all understood everything despite my jumping around. Also after this morning I don't have internet for like 3 or 4 days so there won't be anything new before then. But as soon as I get it back there will be a new chapter for you guys reviews are always loved :p**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 14**

Rick woke with a start as he felt someone sit down next to him. He turned his head to see Jim Beckett lowering himself into a chair. Castle rubbed his face and blinked his eyes a few times. If Jim was just getting here he had probably only been asleep for a few minutes, but his eyelids were heavy and his brain was screaming for more rest. "Hey Jim." He managed to say weakly.

Jim smiled at the writer. "Hey Rick." There was a silent pause as both of them men tried to think of something to say. Jim finally settled on "You look like hell."

Castle looked over at the man in the chair next to him. After a second he started laughing, which got him an inquiring look from Kate's father. Rick stopped laughing and got a serious look on his face. He wondered if it was the stress or lack of sleep talking, but he wanted Jim to know how he felt. "Your daughter is truly amazing. She has such passion, and commitment. These past few days…I've gotten to see a glimpse of how she must have been after Johanna passed away, how consumed she can get by a case. The first night I got her to come home and get a few hours of sleep…but last night…we slept at the precinct. I've done it for one night, and who knows how many times she's done it. She's one of the strongest people I know Jim."

Jim Beckett stared at the writer for a second, taking in the way he talked about Kate, the way his eyes seemed to light up. "Rick, I'm only going to say this once, so listen up. You're a good man, and you and Kate are better than good together. I know how she used to be, and I know how she's been since you came along. It's all over your face Rick, you love her."

Castle returned the older mans' gaze without faltering. After a second he nodded silently.

Jim continued talking. "She's going to pull through this. And when she gets out of here I want you to take care of her. She doesn't admit her feelings easily, but I know her. When she's serious about someone she takes her time, but her eyes light up even brighter than yours when she talks about you."

"I planned on taking care of her sir. I would do anything for her."

Jim seemed satisfied with Castles' response and nodded. Both of the men leaned their heads back. There was still nothing to do but wait.

The two men didn't talk much except for the occasional comment and eventually Jim looked over to see that Rick had dozed off again. A minute later he heard the writers' phone go off but thought it best to let the man sleep. Jim looked at his watch. It was almost 11:00 and he decided it was time to see if he could get any information.

He got up from his chair and walked over to the nurses' station.

"Can I help you?" the young nurse asked in a friendly voice.

"Yes, I'm the father of the police officer that came in this morning with a gunshot wound. I was wondering if there was any news. She's been in there for almost an hour and a half."

"Let me see if they're still in surgery." She said, hitting a button on the computer. "What's her name?"

"Katherine Beckett."

The nurse hit a few more buttons. "He made quite a scene when she came in." she said, nodding in the direction of the sleeping writer.

"Did he?"

"Oh yeah. He tried to follow the stretcher into surgery, yelling about how he promised her he wouldn't leave her. it took two security guards to stop him."

Jim turned and looked at the man asleep in the waiting room chair. He shook his head as he turned back to the nurse. "Sorry…he can be a bit…intense."

"Oh don't worry about it. I've seen worse. And it looks like they still have your daughter in surgery. From the look of it they could be anywhere from another 30 minutes to another couple of hours. It depends on how it goes. I'll let you know if there are any updates." She smiled.

Jim nodded and started back to his seat. He lowered himself into a chair that was almost comfortable and turned his head to the writer as he heard the mans' phone going off again. He contemplated the man sitting next to him. _He really would do anything for her._

Castle was suddenly awoken by the sound of an angry New York accent. "Richard Castle if you don't wake your ass up I'm going to do it for you and believe me you do not want that."

He sat up and shrank back into is chair when he saw the look he was getting from the medical examiner. "Lanie…what are you doing here? I thought Esposito was taking you to his place to get some rest?"

She took a step closer and Castle wished he could just melt through the back of the chair. All he could do was shut up and listen. "Rest? You thought I was actually going to rest while my girl is in there with a bullet in her shoulder? No way."

Esposito took a step forward and out a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry man, I tried to keep her at home for a little while."

She turned around and glared at him before turning her gaze back to the writer. "I send you four text messages and call you twice and you don't pick up. What do you expect me to but show up here? I know you guys have been through a lot to get me out of there, and I owe all four of you a hell of a lot more than I like owing people but I ought to smack you."

Castle opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, looking for something to say. Nothing came out. Jim had been watching the interaction and spoke up. "It's my fault. I heard his phone going off but let him sleep. I've just talked to a nurse however, and there's no news except that she is still in surgery. She could be in there for another 30 minutes to an hour and a half."

"At least someone knows what's going on." Lanie said as she walked over to Kates' father and wrapped him in a hug. "How are you doing Jim?"

"Oh I'm alright. As good as can be expected I guess." He said with a weak smile.

Lanie sat next to him and they began talking quietly. Castle assumed they were catching up and he turned to Esposito, who had sat next to him. "How is she doing?" Rick asked the detective.

"She had some bruises, but she's alright. She's handling it a lot better than most people do, but she won't talk to me about exactly what happened. We haven't showed her Gunners' file yet. She doesn't want to see it. "

Castle nodded and then thought of something. "There's…a good therapist I know. He's helped me and Alexis out a lot over the years and he owes me a favor. I could…get her a couple of sessions with him if she wants it, free of charge."

Both men looked down at the woman talking to Jim Beckett. "We'll see what happens. But thanks man." Esposito said.

The group passed the next half an hour or so in relative silence. They took turns going to get coffee from the stand down the hall. Lanie and Esposito had gone to get a refill and were on their way back to their seats when they saw a doctor walk up to Castle and Jim. Without hesitation Lanie rushed over to stand next to Castle and linked her arm with his for support. Esposito was only a second behind her.

Castle glanced over at the two new arrivals and squeezed Lanies arm before turning back to the doctor. None of them could find the words to ask the question that was on their lips. They all stood and looked at the doctor, waiting for him to speak.

The doctor looked around at the four faces looking back at him expectantly. He took a deep breath and began. "Right now she's stable. Her surgery went as well as can be expected. The bullet went all the way through, which is usually good, but in this case it grazed bone in the process, which…isn't as good. Small fragments of bone became lodged in the surrounding muscle and tissue and we had to make sure we got them all out."

"Well she's stable…that's good right?" Castle asked.

Lanie picked up on the doctors' hesitation and spoke up for him. "Just because she's stable doesn't mean it's a good kind of stable." Everyone looked at her questioningly, even the doctor. "I'm a medical examiner." She said by way of explanation.

The doctor nodded and turned back to address the whole group. "Stable is a good sign, but we aren't completely out of the woods yet. We were able to remove all the bone shards, but she's lost a lot of blood. Her blood pressure is too low and her pulse is weak. She's being moved to a room now, but the anesthesia won't wear off for another half hour or so. You can go in and see her then, but she could be asleep for almost a full day. As long as nothing goes wrong she should be fine. She's either really strong or she has one hell of a reason to hang on."

As the doctor walked away all eyes turned to Castle, who simply walked back over to his chair and sat down.

"What? No snappy comeback?" Esposito joked.

Castle looked up at the group. "In half an hour I get to see her again. We get to see her. We get to see that she's ok." He paused as a huge grin spread across his face. "She's going to be ok." His voice betrayed that he almost didn't believe it, but he stood back up and embraced the group.

Castle then took a few steps off to the side. His phone had gone off while they had been talking to the doctor and he wanted to let the captain and Ryan know what was going on. To his surprise though, the message on his phone was from his mother. It appeared that the captain had called her and told her what happened and when she hadn't heard from him soon she had gotten worried. She didn't say whether or not she had told Alexis, but Castle knew the redhead would want to know. She would be in school but he pulled out his phone and sent her a text. _Hey Sweetie. I'm ok but…something happened and I need you to call me as soon as you get a chance. Love dad_. When he was done with that he called Martha. He filled her in on the details of what happened and told her that he was fine. He let her know that Kate was out of surgery and would be sleeping for a day or so but that she would be fine.

"Oh Rick I'm so sorry. I'll be there as soon as I can." She said.

"No mom, there's nothing any of us can do right now except keep her company. And there can probably only be one of in there at a time. You don't need to rush down here. I'll let you know when she wakes up and you can come see her then."

She finally agreed to stay home until he called her and Rick hung up the call. He knew she cared about Kate a lot, but she didn't need to be there right now. He had one final call to make. He dialed Ryans' number and waited for the detective to pick up.

"Castle! Any news?" he said, without saying hello.

"As long as there are no more complications, she's going to be ok."

There were voices in the background as Ryan told the captain what was going on. "Anything else?" he asked a second later.

"The anesthesia should wear off in about half an hour and we can go in and see her after that but the doctor said she should stay asleep for the next day or so. Oh and Lanie and Esposito are here."

There was more muffled talking before Ryan said "alright, the captain and I will be over shortly."

Castle tried to tell them the same thing he had told his mother, but it didn't work on the detective and he gave up after a minute. He decided that standing up felt good and decided to go for a walk to blow off the half an hour until he could see Kate. He also hoped that Alexis would call him back before then. He wandered around the hallways, peering into some of the rooms. After a few minutes he felt his phone go off and picked it up without answering.

"Hello?"

"Dad? It's me. What happened? What's going on?"

It was Alexis. "Hey honey."

"Dad tell me what happened."

"Alexis I…It's Kate. She…got shot this morning, after we found Lanie. I'm at the hospital with the team now waiting to go in and see her. she just go out of surgery."

"Oh my god dad! Is she ok? Is everyone else ok? Are you ok? Does grandma know?"

"As long as nothing else goes wrong she should be fine. She's going to be asleep for the next day or so though. Everyone else is ok, including Lanie, who is here with the rest of us. I'm…" he tried to think of how much to tell her. the truth had always been his policy when it came to his daughter, but he didn't know if he wanted her to know this side of him. "I caused a bit of a scene when we brought her in, worthy of the Castle name, but if she's going to be ok then so am I."

"I only have two classes left today, I can skip them and meet you at the hospital. I'll take a taxi or something."

"No sweetie, don't worry about it. She's just going to be sleeping anyways. Plus you don't want to ruin your attendance record."

She seemed to consider the remark. "Ok, but I'm coming over right after school."

"Deal."

They hung up the phone and Castle managed to find his way back to the waiting room. Three sets of eyes turned to him as he walked back to his seat. "What?"

"The doctor just came out again. We can go in and see her now, but only one at a time." Esposito said.

They all stared at the writer who, in turn, stared at Jim. "You should be the first to see her." he said. "She's your daughter."

Jim seemed about to argue but took one look at Castle and simply nodded. He walked down a hallway and turned a corner and out of sight. The three remaining took their seats and waited. There was nothing else for them to do.

A short while later Jim emerged from the room and walked slowly back to the waiting room. Castle let everyone go before him, getting more and more nervous about what he would see when he walked into her room.

Finally it was his turn. The walk down the hallway and around the corner to a small room on the right was the longest walk he had ever taken. His feet seemed to weigh a ton each and with every step he took his heartbeat became louder and louder within his chest. Suddenly he was at her door and his hand was on the handle. He took a deep breather and pushed the door open.

The soft beeping of machines greeted him as he stepped inside. His breath caught in his throat at he saw her lying there. He walked slowly to stand beside her, barely registering the fact that there were tears sliding down his cheeks. If she was awake he had the feeling she would be making some smartass comment about him seeing her like this.

He reached out and took her hand. It was still limp, but it was warm and soft, just as it always had been. "Kate…" he whispered, his voice hoarse. "Oh god Kate, I thought I had lost you."

He lost track of time as he stood there, watching he chest rise and fall, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except that she was alive, she was breathing, and she was going to be alright.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 15**

Rick lost track of time as he sat beside Kate's bed. His mind didn't register his phone going off or the passing of time. It barely registered what the nurses said to him when they came in to check on the brunette laying before him. He couldn't have told anyone if he was hot or cold or what kind of food Lanie had brought in on a Styrofoam plate and made him eat.

The only thing that Castle's mind registered was the noises of the machines and the slow, erratic rising and falling of his girlfriend's chest. She was the most important thing in his world right now. As far as he was concerned, nothing else mattered.

He knew he should give the rest of the team and her father a chance to see her, but he didn't think he could handle leaving her side. Not now that he was with her again.

At times, Castle's brain seemed to fight through the haze he was in long enough to tell him that this was his fault. Yeah, he knew he wasn't the wack job that had kidnapped Lanie, or the one that had made Beckett go into that house, or the maniac that had pulled the trigger. However, he still couldn't help thinking that if it wasn't for the way he and Nikki Heat had swept into the precinct and embedded themselves there, none of this would have happened.

Rick sat there thinking these things over and over as he watched Kate sleep. He wasn't pulled out of the depths of his own mind until he felt a pair of small arms wind their way around his neck and saw a flash of red hair over his shoulder. He took a deep breath and turned his head to see his daughter as she came around the side of his chair.

"Hey sweetie. I thought I told you not to skip school?"

Alexis looked at him for a second before saying anything. "I didn't dad. It's already almost 3:00."

"Oh" he attempted a smile. "I must have dozed off."

The redhead looked at her father sternly. "Dad, I know you're worried but…have you left this room since you called me.." she checked her watch and met her dad's gaze once more "four and a half hours ago?"

Castle didn't really know what to say so he settled on "I didn't come in until after I talked to you." he finished with a sheepish grin.

Alexis studied her father a little more closely. He had dark circles under his slightly bloodshot eyes and his hair was a mess. He looked a lot worse for the wear than he normally did, even during a tough case, and she felt herself softening just a little. Of course he wouldn't have left Beckett's side until it was certain she was going to be ok. A small voice in the back of her head told the younger Castle that after this he probably wouldn't leave her side even then. Alexis had been there for the evolution of their relationship and knew that her father would have given up anything for the woman lying in the bed in front of them.

Alexis let her eyes wander to the machines and then to the detective lying motionless in the hospital bed. "Is she…has she woken up at all?"

Rick shook his head. "No, she stirred once or twice but nothing else. The doctors say she probably won't wake up until tomorrow at the earliest." He reached out a hand and smiled as his daughter took it without a word. They stayed like that for a minute, both silently watching. Finally, Alexis broke the silence. "Everyone else is still out there. The nurse says we can only come in one at a time."

Rick took a deep breath, not wanting to leave the room. He willed his legs to move, to help him stand up, but nothing happened. What if she woke up after he left? He looked up at Alexis. "I…promised her I wouldn't leave…" his voice trailed off as he remembered the relief in Kates' eyes as he has made the promise. He didn't like his teenage daughter to see him like this, no child should have to help their parent deal with this much pain and conflict, but a part of his knew that she didn't mind as long as everyone turned out alright.

She didn't say anything but held out her other hand. Castle looked up and tried another smile he knew would fail. He took her outstretched hand and let her help him to his feet. He embraced his daughter tightly. Letting his arms fall to his side he turned for another look at Kate. It was only when Alexis held out her hand once more that he allowed her to lead him to the door and the people that were in the waiting room beyond.

Rick wasn't sure what he expected from the people who he knew were waiting just around the corner in the lobby, but when he walked up to them and looked around at the faces he now considered family, he felt a surge of relief and gratitude. As he walked toward an empty chair in between Ryan and Jim he felt somehow connected to all of them. Castle took the empty seat and felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to see Jim Beckett watching him carefully.

"Anything?" the older man asked.

Castle shook his head and tried to think of something to say, some small word of comfort that he could offer the man that was looking at him with such sorrow in his eyes. "No but it seems like she is sleeping soundly so hopefully that means she isn't in too much pain."

Jim nodded and stood up. Everyone watched in silence as he walked off in the direction of Kates room. Castle looked around and saw that Alexis had taken a seat next to Lanie but was still keeping an eye on him, as if she was afraid that he was going to do something else drastic. She had no doubt been informed of the scene he has made upon Kates arrival.

He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring look before pulling out his phone. He had a few messages and a missed call. The messages were all from various members of the team and the missed call was from Alexis. He sent his mother a text saying there was still no change before slipping the phone back into his pocket.

Silence stretched on as the group sat there. Their nervous eyes and minds followed everything that went on in the small waiting room without actually focusing on anything. Everyone was on edge but somehow the silence that engulfed them wasn't altogether uncomfortable. Every single person in that room knew that no matter what had happened in the past few days, or what would happen in the days that were to follow, they would stick together. It was the unspoken agreement of people who had gotten used to running into dangerous situations as a team, as a single unit.

The rest of the day passed with the small group taking turns getting food and coffee from the cafeteria. Ryan walked off once or twice to give Jenny a call and let her know what was going on.

After Jim came out from visiting his daughter, it was Lanies' turn. The medical examiner stepped into the room and closed the door slowly behind her. She stood where she was for a second, trying, and failing, to control her emotions. The doctor in her forced her to scan all the machines and tubes that were connected to her friend. Once satisfied that everything was in order, she moved closer to the bed.

Lanies hand shook as she reached out and took one of Kates. She wanted to speak, but was barely holding back the tears as it was. She knew that if she said everything that was on her mind she would lose what little control she had.

After sitting there for a while, Lanie realized what it was that had kept Castle in this room for so long, and she didn't blame him at all. Even though the machines were beeping and pulsing along with Kates slightly steadier heartbeat, even though her training told her that while it had been a close call everything was going to be fine, all logic had gone out the window the second the trigger had been pulled. Every second that she sat there made it harder to get up and leave. Even though she was starving and her wrists hurt from being hand cuffed, it didn't matter. What mattered was that Katherine Beckett was not going to die.

After a little while longer she went back out to the waiting room and Esposito gave her a quick hug before his turn visiting the fallen detective. Once he was gone Castle stood up. "I'm going to get coffee. Anyone want anything?"

Lanie looked up from where she had put her head in her hands. "I'll come with you."

Castle nodded and the two of them headed for the cafeteria after taking orders from the others. They walked in silence, each one letting the other stay within in the confines of their own mind.

It wasn't until they were in line waiting for a sandwich that Castle spoke up. "I didn't get a chance o say this earlier, but I'm glad you're ok Lanie."

"Thanks Castle," she said, barely looking up.

"And I'm sorry too." Castle continued. "For everything that happened."

Lanies head snapped up. "Castle, what are you talking about?"

"Lanie, this guy…he took you to get to Kate. And he wanted to get to Kate because of me, because of my books. If I hadn't…"

The medical examiner cut him off. "Richard Castle, I know you are not trying to blame yourself for me getting kidnapped and Kate getting show. You have done so much good for this team, and you've been even better for that woman lying in there with a bullet wound. Things would be different without you, and not in a good way."

Castle opened his mouth to say something but shut it again when Lanie raised her eyebrows. They turned to take the sandwich that was being held out to them. As they headed towards the cashier Castle whispered. "I just don't see what good I've done if one of my friends was just kidnapped because of me and my girlfriend is in the hospital with a bullet wound that almost killed her."

Lanie almost stopped in her tracks but managed to keep going. When he put it that was she could almost see where he was coming from. She didn't know how to respond except to say "she has had close calls with bullets before, and she will have them again." She looked up to see his reaction. The pain in his eyes practically knocked the breath out of her.

"Not if I can help it." he said, before he handed a couple of bills to the lady. With that he walked away and left Lanie staring after him.

Castle was almost back to the waiting room when a slightly frantic detective Ryan came around the corner at high speed and nearly knocked him over.

"Woah!" Castle said, trying to steady himself and the two coffees he was holding.

"Castle!" Ryan said. His face was a little red and he was beginning to breathe heavier than normal, even though the waiting room was just around the next corner.

Castle was immediately on high alert. "Ryan what is it? Did something happen? Is she…" he didn't know how to finish the sentence.

Ryan took a deep breath. "She woke up. I was in there with her and she woke up. The doctors are in there with her now but she was asking for you and her dad and…"

Ryan was cut off when Castle shoved the hot coffees at him and took off down the hallway.

Castle stopped short outside of Kates' door and tried to compose himself. He didn't want her to see him freaking out. He heard muffled voices coming from the room and his heart picked up its pace again. The doctors were still in there, but what if she had fallen back asleep? She had woken up far sooner than the doctors had expected and Castle wasn't sure what that meant. He reached out and was about to open the door when he heard someone call out his name. He turned to see Jim Beckett striding towards him at a brisk pace.

"I'm going in there first Rick," he said when he was standing next to the writer.

Castle opened his mouth to protest but remembered who he was talking to and thought better of it. "Yes sir."

Jim's eyes seemed to soften a bit as he looked at the man before him. "Also, since visiting hours were technically over about ten minutes ago and the nurse was starting to give us dirty looks, everyone else went home."

Rick cocked his head to the side. "Alexis?"

"She went home too."

Castle nodded. "Sir, with all due respect, I don't have any intention of leaving her tonight."

The man smiled. He had expected a similar response. "I know. Which is why I'm going in first, and then when I leave you're going to go in there and sit with her until everyone comes back tomorrow. Everyone in the team needs their rest and even though I'm her father, you're the one she would want staying with her tonight."

Richard dropped his hand from the door handle he hadn't realized he was still holding. He took a deep breath and stepped back. "Thank you sir."

Jim simply nodded and opened the door. He stepped inside and closed the door quickly behind him. Castle walked backwards until his back was up against the opposite wall. He ran his fingers through his hair and let himself slide to the ground. He must have dozed off because the next time he looked up, Jim was standing in front of him.

"Told you that you were tired." The man said, smiling and holding out a hand to help the writer up.

Castle blinked a couple of times then allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "I guess so."

"Watch out for her Rick. She…" Jim stopped and shook his head, getting rid of whatever he had been about to say.

"I will." Castle said, taking a step towards the door.

"Rick, part of this deal is you have to keep us all updated ok? No more disappearing into that room and ignoring your phone. I have strict orders from your daughter that if she doesn't hear from you to have Ryan and Esposito arrest you."

The writer smiled. "Deal." He turned back to the door in front of him and took a deep breath, trying to steady his shaking hand. He took one more breath, pushing all his fears aside, and pushed open the door.

**Ok ok, I'm sorry about the huge delay in posting this chapter. Summers are actually busier for me than the school year. Hopefully I'll be able to have the next chapter up in a few days, I've been on a roll lately haha. Anyways hope you liked and please review! :D**


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